Why is Salmon Pink?
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Kelwyn Gallant
Bourgeois Bohemian
Join date: 7 Jun 2003
Posts: 57
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10-02-2003 14:02
Author's Note: The purpose of this thread is to artificially elevate my post count above the magic number of 10, so that I can get rid of the execrable "Junior Member" title. Still, I didn't want to make it entirely content-free, so have included a few of my favorite eco-facts. Read further at your own risk.
Salmon is pink because the adult fish eats lots of krill, a small shrimp-like critter that's a big deal in the oceanic food chain. However, farmed salmon never make it to the ocean so they have to put a chemical in their food (along with a lot of antibiotics and other stuff we probably don't want to know about) -- otherwise the flesh of the farmed salmon would appear to be a kind of pale grey in color. Ick!
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Kelwyn Botanicals
-- Clementina 179,186
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Madox Kobayashi
Madox Labs R&D
Join date: 28 Jun 2003
Posts: 402
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10-02-2003 14:07
Because developing and adding chemicals to their food is easier than dumping a load of krill in the tanks? 
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Madox Kobayashi
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Kelwyn Gallant
Bourgeois Bohemian
Join date: 7 Jun 2003
Posts: 57
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10-02-2003 14:16
Grammatical note: Shouldn't it be "Why are salmon pink"? But then that doesn't work because clearly the fish itself isn't pink. So:
salm'-on n. pl. 1. Any of various large food and game fishes of the genera Salmo or Oncorhynchus. 2. n. The delicate pinkish flesh of the salmon.
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Kelwyn Botanicals
-- Clementina 179,186
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Kelwyn Gallant
Bourgeois Bohemian
Join date: 7 Jun 2003
Posts: 57
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10-02-2003 14:37
Also, regarding "junior member", I'm assuming someone else has already posted all the bad puns and slightly off-color jokes about how this title could be interpreted as an anatomical reference, either disparaging or confused, depending on one's gender at the moment, so I won't go into any of that here.
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Kelwyn Botanicals
-- Clementina 179,186
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Kelwyn Gallant
Bourgeois Bohemian
Join date: 7 Jun 2003
Posts: 57
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10-02-2003 14:40
From: someone Originally posted by Madox Kobayashi Because developing and adding chemicals to their food is easier than dumping a load of krill in the tanks? It would take quite a talented krill wrangler to catch enough -- those babies are small.
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Kelwyn Botanicals
-- Clementina 179,186
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Ananda Sandgrain
+0-
Join date: 16 May 2003
Posts: 1,951
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10-02-2003 14:45
Just 19 more posts to go, Kelwyn! |
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Kelwyn Gallant
Bourgeois Bohemian
Join date: 7 Jun 2003
Posts: 57
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10-02-2003 16:34
Yo, it's only 10 posts! I'm happy now.
Did you know -- a blue whale has a heart the size of a Volkswagen, and consumes about 8 tons of krill a day?
Cheerio,
Kelwyn
"What's so funny about peace love and understanding?"
-- Elvis Costello
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Jake Cellardoor
CHM builder
Join date: 27 Mar 2003
Posts: 528
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10-02-2003 18:05
(Well, Kelwyn, you could also post in threads about SL, too.  ) Regarding the color of farmed salmon, supposedly the pigment added is the same one that naturally makes krill -- and wild salmon -- pink. |
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Darwin Appleby
I Was Beaten With Satan
Join date: 14 Mar 2003
Posts: 2,779
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10-02-2003 19:37
Anyone ever heard of the "It doesn't turn pink in the can!" slogan and the lawsuit around it?
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Touche.
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Hunter Phaeton
The New Cap'n Stubin
Join date: 24 Sep 2003
Posts: 63
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10-02-2003 20:39
I'm not all that sure we want to hear about anything turning pink in the can, Darwin... Although I suppose it's better than the can turning brown.  |