Tilapia Industry Digesting 'Worse Than Bacon' Study

Earlier this month, Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center released a report (Chilton, 2008) citing high levels of inflammatory arachidonic acid and Omega 6 fatty acids in tilapia, while also noting very low levels of beneficial Omega 3 fatty acids. To most consumers, this was something of a surprise. The American Heart Association suggests two servings of fish per week, in order to make sure you get enough Omega 3 fatty acids in your diet. Most people never think twice about what kind of fish they should be choosing to meet this recommendation.

I had a chance to discuss this research report and an article I wrote on the health implications of eating farm-raised tilapia with an industry insider.

This is the first of a series of articles based, in part, on that discussion.

I raised this topic with Jim Nunneley, Vice President of Marketing with RainForest Aquaculture. Rain Forest Aquaculture is a major importer of fresh (as opposed to frozen) farm-raised tilapia into the United States and has its own tilapia farming operation in Costa Rica. Mr. Nunneley cautioned that he needed time to speak with other nutrition experts before making a formal statement, but was willing to share some of his immediate reactions.

Worse than Bacon or a Hamburger?

When asked about the results of the Chilton study, Mr. Nunneley replied: "Dr. Chilton has made comments to the press that eating bacon or a hamburger may be less harmful to a person than eating tilapia. I find that pretty hard to swallow, but again, we are conducting our own studies and seeking the opinions of other experts in nutrition before we make a formal statement on Dr. Chilton's study. I will say that this is a healthy discussion."

The Chilton study suggested that tilapia convert short chain Omega 6 acids, found in high levels in corn, into arachidonic acid and store this in their tissues. The arachidonic acid causes inflammation in the body when eaten by humans and can exacerbate issues such as cardiovascular disease, asthma and even arthritis, all of which are conditions related to inflammation. It was this inflammatory effect that prompted Dr. Chilton to remark that eating tilapia is worse than eating bacon or a hamburger.

Rain Forest Aquaculture Willing to Change

While we both acknowledged more work needs to be done to evaluate these claims, I was heartened that Mr. Nunneley, representing one tilapia farming operation, responded: "We take the study seriously, and if we have to adjust the diet of our fish to produce a product that is healthier for our customers, so be it. We are very pro-improvement."

I take him at his word here, and I'll tell you why. Rain Forest Aquaculture is based in Costa Rica where the costs are somewhat higher than those of their chief rival, China. As a former product manager of luxury goods, I can tell you that when you have higher costs, you look to differentiation to market your products. Currently, fish-farming operations in the Americas use fresh versus frozen as a differentiator.

Their claim is that fresh (never frozen) tilapia from the Americas is better tasting than tilapia from China, which loses some of its taste during the freezing process. Adding another key differentiator, such as higher ratio of beneficial Omega 3 fatty acids to Omega 6 fatty acids than Chinese tilapia due to the higher quality feeds used during the farming operation, would only help American tilapia farms compete more effectively.

"We've never marketed tilapia as a 'health food' but only as a healthy food," Nunneley said. "It is important to us to continue to be considered as such. If the research yields results that we feel should be incorporated into our [standard operating procedures] we'll certainly do that. As an industry, we are still less than 20 years old and learning every day."

In a day when "plausible deniability" seems to govern our country's policy, the willingness of a vice president of Rain Forest Aquaculture to consider that there may be steps that his company should take to improve was refreshing.

Plausible Deniability Revisited?

On the other hand, I don't want to leave you with the impression the tilapia farming industry is accepting these results without question. Indeed, Nunneley repeatedly referred to the need for further review of the results -- and for new tests to be conducted by Rain Forest Aquaculture's own experts -- before he could fully address Dr. Chilton's statement that tilapia is worse than bacon.

"We think it's important consumers get the 'whole story' regarding tilapia. At this point, it's too early to tell whether this is an important study or not," Nunneley stated. "It will take a couple of weeks, at a minimum, to understand the merits of the study and to determine our response. There has been some response from within the nutrition industry that has been critical of Dr. Chilton's study."

While some of these statements could be interpreted as setting the stage for denying Chilton's results, I think we can all agree with Nunneley's final statement: "One way or another, this process is making us take a closer look at our products and I think that is a good thing. The consumer deserves to know what they eat, and we intend to continue to produce high quality products they can trust."

Continuing Series of Tilapia Articles

As I continue this series of articles, I will discuss such topics as:

· The Tilapia Farming Industry's Record on the Environment

· What Goes into Tilapia Goes into You - a look at the feeding of tilapia in farming operations around the world

· Tilapia Farming Around the World: China vs. the Americas

Additional topics will be covered. The goal of the final article, with the Company's Vice President of Marketing, will be to address the findings of Rain Forest Aquaculture's experts once those results have been received and evaluated. I, for one, am very eager to hear how that turns out. If you want to receive an email notification when these future articles are published, you can use the subscribe button at the top of this article to be alerted each time I publish a new article.

Source Material:
Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, Wake Forest Researchers Say Popular Fish Contains Potentially Dangerous Fatty Acid Combination,retrieved July 8^th, 2008 from http://www1.wfubmc.edu/News/NewsARticle.htm?ArticleID=2400