Tilapia = Bad?

sobriquet84
sobriquet84 Posts: 607 Member
in Food and Nutrition
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:
«134

Replies

  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    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
    ldrosophila Posts: 7,512 Member
    not too concerned we all eat poop every day
  • JacksMom12
    JacksMom12 Posts: 1,044 Member
    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
    socajam Posts: 2,530 Member
    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
    nickycat73 Posts: 61 Member
    Yuck, I eat it at least 1 per week. I did not know this.
  • pita7317
    pita7317 Posts: 1,437 Member
    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
    garber6th Posts: 1,894 Member
    I thought all tilapia was farm raised?
  • bcattoes
    bcattoes Posts: 17,299 Member
    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
    sobriquet84 Posts: 607 Member
    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
    ehorn625 Posts: 144
    Never was a big fan. Too bland.
  • redladywitch
    redladywitch Posts: 799 Member
    Old Bay Seasoning, Dill, Roasted Garlic, Homemade Mango Salsa, Baked with sliced Lime, Homemade tarter sauce,....I eat Tilapia so different ways.
  • sobriquet84
    sobriquet84 Posts: 607 Member
    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
    awtume9 Posts: 423 Member
    I'm having rice with a side of poopy tilapia for lunch. Yum!
  • gabbygirl78
    gabbygirl78 Posts: 936 Member
    I like my poop with some Old Bay seasoning on it. Mmmmmmmm

    Pooplicious!!!!

    :laugh: :drinker: Works for me!!!
  • stumblinthrulife
    stumblinthrulife Posts: 2,558 Member
    So tilapia ingested some of it's life-giving nutrients from poop.

    I wonder how you think organic vegetables are grown?
  • GCAsMom
    GCAsMom Posts: 120 Member
    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
    SkinnyFatAlbert Posts: 482 Member
    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
    baptiste565 Posts: 590 Member
    not too concerned we all eat poop every day
    speak for yourself please. i only eat poop on the weekends. lol
  • FerretBuellerr
    FerretBuellerr Posts: 468 Member
    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:

Categories