Tilapia = Bad?

sobriquet84

More specifically, farm raised tilipia from China. I've heard it's "dirty", that its raised on poop. POOP. Which makes the fish susceptible to spreading food born diseases.

So, I did some googling, and snopes backs this up with some pretty alarming info.

http://www.snopes.com/food/warnings/tilapia.asp

Question-- Do you avoid eating farm raised tilapia? More specifically, farm raised tilapia from China? (which accounts for most of the tilapia on the market.)

I don't eat much of it, its bland and tasteless and I much prefer salmon and tuna, but this has just made me feel all icky. :sick:

bcattoes

The ocean is full of creatures that poop. All fish live in poop to some extent. But, yes, farmed fish are kept in a very concentrated area and so the poop is more concentrated also. To allow the fish to live, this poop is swept out in the surrounds waters. It is the damage this does to the surrounding environment and the medications given to the fish to keep them from spreading disease in such close quarters that bothers me more than that they swim in poop.

Tilapia is not one of my favorite fish to eat, but farm raised is all that is available where I live, so when I eat it, I eat farmed raised.

ldrosophila

not too concerned we all eat poop every day

JacksMom12

I had tilapia last night. So, I basically ate poo poo. Ew, dude.
Where can you even find fresh tilapia? Whole foods? Everywhere else only sells farmed. I agree that it's bland but its so perfect for hitting protein goals. With tuna, you have to worry about too much mercury although I eat it several times a week. Ugh, I don't even know anymore.

socajam

More specifically, farm raised tilipia from China. I've heard it's "dirty", that its raised on poop. POOP. Which makes the fish susceptible to spreading food born diseases.

So, I did some googling, and snopes backs this up with some pretty alarming info.

http://www.snopes.com/food/warnings/tilapia.asp

Question-- Do you avoid eating farm raised tilapia? More specifically, farm raised tilapia from China? (which accounts for most of the tilapia on the market.)

I don't eat much of it, its bland and tasteless and I much prefer salmon and tuna, but this has just made me feel all icky. :sick:

I would NEVER, EVER eat any food especially seafood from China.

nickycat73

Yuck, I eat it at least 1 per week. I did not know this.

pita7317

I just had some for lunch pan fried in olive oil with fresh lemon juice.
Very tasty. Works for me. To each their own I suppose. Excellent protein source.

garber6th

I thought all tilapia was farm raised?

Unknown

This content has been removed.

bcattoes

I had tilapia last night. So, I basically ate poo poo. Ew, dude.
Where can you even find fresh tilapia? Whole foods? Everywhere else only sells farmed. I agree that it's bland but its so perfect for hitting protein goals. With tuna, you have to worry about too much mercury although I eat it several times a week. Ugh, I don't even know anymore.

With tuna, the type matter as far as mercury goes. The cheaper canned tuna that is typically just labelled "light tuna" are smaller fish and contain less mercury than the more expensive albacore or yellowfin (ahi).

sobriquet84

The ocean is full of creatures that poop. All fish live in poop to some extent. But, yes, farmed fish are kept in a very concentrated area and so the poop is more concentrated also. To allow the fish to live, this poop is swept out in the surrounds waters. It is the damage this does to the surrounding environment and the medications given to the fish to keep them from spreading disease in such close quarters that bothers me more than that they swim in poop.

Tilapia is not one of my favorite fish to eat, but farm raised is all that is available where I live, so when I eat it, I eat farmed raised.

I thought I read that they are being fed manure and sewage, not just their own poop.

The ecological damage is diconcerting, but I hadn't even thought about the medications thing. My goodness. Now I'm even more compelled to avoid it.

ehorn625

Never was a big fan. Too bland.

redladywitch

Old Bay Seasoning, Dill, Roasted Garlic, Homemade Mango Salsa, Baked with sliced Lime, Homemade tarter sauce,....I eat Tilapia so different ways.

sobriquet84

I thought all tilapia was farm raised?

Uhhh no. I can understand why you may have thought though because that's what's mostly available on the market.

Aquaculture = lots of profit and less expensive product for the consumer.

awtume9

I'm having rice with a side of poopy tilapia for lunch. Yum!

gabbygirl78

I like my poop with some Old Bay seasoning on it. Mmmmmmmm

Pooplicious!!!!

:laugh: :drinker: Works for me!!!

stumblinthrulife

So tilapia ingested some of it's life-giving nutrients from poop.

I wonder how you think organic vegetables are grown?

GCAsMom

My husband did a bit of research in his interest in aquaponics. He found that most tilapia is raised on corn and he is of the opinion that we have enough corn in our diet. As well as tilapia is so bland and tasteless it's basically a carrier for seasonings. He, (and I agree), prefer to eat more flavorful fish without all the seasonings.

Whether it's "bad" or not, I can't say, but there are certainly much better fish out there to eat.

SkinnyFatAlbert

Cook your food. Kill the germs in it. Move on with life. This is a total first world imaginary problem. Imagine how dirty food was even a hundred years ago, let alone before that.

baptiste565

not too concerned we all eat poop every day

speak for yourself please. i only eat poop on the weekends. lol

FerretBuellerr

I'm not an expert by any means, but there are similar issues with ALL farm-raised fish. Not just in China - they do the same here in Canada and probably elsewhere in the world too. Well, maybe not the exact same, but similar crowding issues.

I read a report a few months ago about salmon farms in Canada having issues with a certain salmon farm where the salmon were being extremely violent and eating other salmon (and salmon are not cannibalistic or violent by nature). Now THAT is effed up.

I see it this way: either I eat farm raised fish who have to put up with terrible conditions and are more than likely injected with some type of growth horomone to make them bigger, faster, or I eat fresh fish harvested from a lake/river/ocean that have higher than normal levels of mercury in their blood and other garbage in them because of how polluted our waters are.

It's a lose-lose no matter what you do. It's terribly sad. :frown:

_noob_

How is eating corn fed tilapia the same as eating corn?

hdyanneh

Love it...don't care. Its an easy tasty convenience meal...

coolraul07

I like my poop with some Old Bay seasoning on it. Mmmmmmmm

Pooplicious!!!!

^THIS... OR McCormick's no salt Citrus Lime seasoning... OR encrusted in parmesan cheese and panko bread crumbs with freshly-cracked black peppercorns... OR... (you get the idea...)

As for foodborne illnesses (e.g. salmonella), this ain't sashimi. I cook all my fish very well done so all that stuff is rendered harmless. #EatAllTheTilapia

SkinnyFatAlbert

He found that most tilapia is raised on corn and he is of the opinion that we have enough corn in our diet.

This seems like dumb logic. If an animal eats something you're not eating what the animal ate. You're eating the animal's tissues.

abickford82

It's gross, but a great source of protein (and extremely inexpensive). By far better than eating fast food all the time.

bkw99508

One of many reasons why I LOVE living in Alaska...

Fresh halibut, salmon, rockfish, cod, crab, shrimp, scallops, clams.....and that is just salt water.

silvergurl518

shrimp eat poopy too. i try to block this thought out when i eat delicious coconut crusted shrimp.

CyberEd312

He found that most tilapia is raised on corn and he is of the opinion that we have enough corn in our diet.

This seems like dumb logic. If an animal eats something you're not eating what the animal ate. You're eating the animal's tissues.

Yeah same applies to corn fed beef, I could care less what it consumed just knock the horns off, put a few grill marks on it and slap it down on my plate...... Oh and in for the poop eating fish consumption..... :drinker:

kirkor

How is eating corn fed tilapia the same as eating corn?

Well, grass-fed beef is considered better than corn-fed beef. Not sure if tilapia biology would convey similar benefits?

_noob_

with beef you're worried about the fatty acids, but tilipia has very little fat to care about.