Big Retailers Sued Over Farmed Salmon Pigment YAKIMA, Wash (April 25, 2003) - The Kroger Co., Safeway and Albertsons all said the salmon they sell in their stores is sourced from reputable companies and complies with all federal regulations The statements follow the filing of lawsuits alleging the chains have failed to notify shoppers that the farm-raised salmon meat they sell has been dyed pink Farmed salmon, which has natural-colored flesh, relies on pigments added to fish food that mimics the color provided by krill and small crustaceans consumed by wild salmon The law firm of Smith & Lowney said failure to provide such information to consumers is unfair and deceptive, and against federal law Salmon farmers said pigment is added at levels that meet government standards Robert Vosburgh BACK TO TOP The Associated Press April 25, 2003, Friday, BC cycle 2:16 AM Eastern Time SECTION: State and Regional LENGTH: 323 words HEADLINE: Maine fish farmers seeing red over salmon lawsuit DATELINE: PORTLAND, Maine BODY: Maine fish farmers are seeing red over lawsuits challenging the pink color of salmon Three class-action lawsuits were filed this week in Seattle against Kroger, Safeway and Albertson's, the nation's three largest supermarket chains The lawsuits argue that the stores should tell consumers that the farm-raised salmon they sell is not naturally pink, but rather gets its color from additives to salmon feed Steve Page, compliance officer at Atlantic Salmon in Belfast, said salmon get their orange-pink color from a pigment found in carrots and other vegetables that is part of the salmon feed mixture He said the pigment is naturally occurring and essential for fish health, as well as giving the fish their color "It's another wedge they're trying to get in to scare the public and to scare the markets regarding the value of farmed salmon," said Page Andrew Fisk, aquaculture coordinator for the Department of Marine Resources, said salmon - on farms and in the wild - need the compounds to be healthy While wild salmon gets its compounds from algae, shrimp and other food in the ocean, the farmed fish diet must be supplemented "If they weren't there, the flesh would be gray, but the fish wouldn't be getting a portion of their diet that they need," said Fisk "It's not as pernicious and underhanded as is being alleged There's a dietary basis for it as well as having a functional effect of (turning the flesh pink)." The classs-action suits seek damages for all consumers who have purchased farmed salmon across the country in the past four years A lawyer filing the suits said it is unfair, deceptive and illegal to artificially color salmon without telling shoppers Page and Fisk said they didn't know if Maine salmon farms have sold any product to the three grocery chains named in the lawsuit Maine salmon farmers harvested 29.1 million pounds of fish valued at $58.2 million in 2001 The News Tribune (Tacoma, Washington) April 25, 2003, Friday SECTION: South Sound; Pg B06 LENGTH: 450 words HEADLINE: Farmed salmon: Pink filets are not the issue; Color a surrogate for more serious debate BODY: Americans have an august tradition of arguing about food colorings Sometimes the argument isn't really about the pigment itself - as in the newly filed lawsuit over farmed salmon An environmentalist Seattle law firm, Smith & Lowney, is trying to work up a class-action lawsuit against three grocery store chains over their failure to list color additives in the pen-raised salmon they sell The pigments in question, astaxanthin and can-thaxanthin, are fed these fish to give their flesh the rich pink color characteristic of wild salmon This is reminiscent of the dairy lobby's efforts, many years ago, to prevent margarine from being sold with yellow, butter-like coloring Those battles weren't about the color yellow; they were about protecting the livelihoods of dairy farmers Nor is the argument over astaxanthin and canthaxanthin really about the color of farmed salmon Those two compounds are considered harmless by the Food and Drug Administration and are probably about as safe as anything added to American food Closely related to beta-carotene, they are common in nature and appear to provide a variety of health benefits Found in creatures as varied as lobsters and flamingoes, they give wild salmon their distinctive color The lawsuit, then, isn't about consumer safety per se - it is about stigmatizing farmed salmon Behind all this is a raging debate over the environmental effects of salmon farming Opponents, which include both environmentalists and the Alaskan fishing industry, portray salmon farms in British Columbia and elsewhere as floating eco-logical catastrophes They argue that the salmon pens dump huge quantities of feces ("raw sewage") into the water and put antibiotics into the food chain They also point to the fact that farmed Atlantic salmon have escaped in large numbers to compete for habitat with endangered wild salmon Salmon farmers respond that these problems are wildly exaggerated, and that new cage designs have greatly reduced the number of escapes Clearly, these are serious issues that deserve public attention and perhaps tighter regulations What isn't a serious issue is the pinkness of farmed salmon If federal law indeed requires that the additives be listed on the label, as the lawsuit contends, then grocery stores should waste no time complying But the presence of astaxanthin and canthaxanthin in farmed fish should not be depicted as some kind of scam or health threat People like their maraschino cherries red, their frozen green beans green, their Easter Peeps yellow - and food processors oblige them In the colorful panoply of the American supermarket, farmed salmon are hardly unique The San Francisco Chronicle APRIL 24, 2003, THURSDAY, FINAL EDITION SECTION: BAY AREA; Pg A17 LENGTH: 662 words HEADLINE: Suits challenge labeling of farmed salmon; Chemical pigments make fish pink SOURCE: Chronicle Environment Writer BYLINE: Jane Kay BODY: There's fishy business involving farmed salmon in the nation's three largest grocery chains, according to allegations in a new lawsuit Albertson's, Safeway and Kroger are failing to tell consumers that the commercially grown salmon for sale at fish counters gets its vibrant pink color from artificial additives, said the suit filed Wednesday Seattle law firm Smith and Lowney filed three separate lawsuits against the stores on behalf of nine people who bought the farmed fish Kings County Superior Court in Seattle will rule whether the suits can be joined as a class action Fish buyers are charging that the chains are conducting unlawful, deceptive and unfair business practices and negligent misrepresentation by not labeling the farmed fish with "color added." "When you fail to label artificially colored salmon, it has the potential of misleading consumers," said attorney Knoll Lowney "Consumers believe that redder salmon is better salmon, and are willing to pay more," Lowney said "Without artificial coloring, this farm-raised salmon would have gray flesh, would be difficult to market and would command low prices." Wild salmon is naturally pink to red, depending on species, time of year and amount of krill and shrimp in its diet The plaintiffs are asking for compensation for past purchases, civil penalties and a judge's order that the chains add labels Much of the farmed salmon sold in the Bay Area comes from Norway and Chile California does not have salmon farms, says the state Fish and Game Department, because the bays needed for the operations are already crowded and being used for other purposes Washington state has a small industry, and Maine's is the largest in the country The Food and Drug Administration requires that food products carry labels that declare color additives among the ingredients The FDA specifically requires labeling of color additives for all salmon species, and labeling is the responsibility of retailers, the suit said Brian Dowling, Safeway vice president of public affairs, said the company cannot comment because it has not seen the lawsuit "We want to assure our customers that we buy our salmon from well-regarded, reputable suppliers who are known for their high-quality standards and who guarantee that they comply with all federal, state and local laws," Dowling said Albertson's spokeswoman Stacia Levenfeld said, "Our goal is always to provide the highest quality and freshest product Because we have not yet been served with the complaint, we cannot speak to the specific allegations." Kroger Co could not be reached for comment In deciding shades, the farmers use a kind of swatch chart called a SalmoFan a fan of pink to red colors, similar to arrays of paint colors available in home improvement stores To color the fish, salmon farmers buy feed containing one or both of two chemical pigments in the carotenoid family: canthaxanthin and astaxanthin They are artificially produced and approved in certain concentrations by the FDA A small organic farmed-salmon industry colors the fish with natural astaxanthin taken from a species of freshwater algae Mera Pharmaceuticals, of Kona, Hawaii, sells the natural astaxanthin as an antioxidant supplement In January, the European Union cut levels allowed for canthaxanthin in farmed salmon to one-third of FDA levels, citing warnings that they could cause crystalline deposits in the human retina In Anacortes, Wash., Kevin Bright, general manager of Cypress Island Inc., the only salmon farm in the state, blamed criticisms of the farmed salmon industry on "environmental groups that have have aligned themselves with commercial fishermen They've found a common enemy It's farmed salmon." His farm produces 12 million pounds a year of whole Atlantic salmon, and the boxes are clearly labeled as containing the two additives, Bright said The Seattle Times April 24, 2003, Thursday Fourth Edition SECTION: ROP ZONE; Local News; Pg B1 LENGTH: 398 words HEADLINE: Stores sued over farmed salmon's fishy color BYLINE: Judith Blake; Seattle Times staff reporter BODY: Seattleite Lori Thomas says she never would have purchased farmed salmon had she known it was fed a color additive to make its flesh pink, as experts say most farmed salmon are Thomas said that's why she's joined a class-action lawsuit against Albertsons Inc., alleging the Boise-based grocery chain failed to label its farmed salmon as artificially colored It's one of three similar national class-action lawsuits filed yesterday in King County Superior Court against Safeway, The Kroger Co (which owns QFC and Fred Meyer) and Albertsons The companies had no immediate response, their spokesmen saying they had not seen the complaints "There's no way I would have spent my money buying salmon if I'd known that it wasn't really a red or orange color the way it looks in the store," Thomas said yesterday "I had no way of knowing the salmon I buy is artificially colored." The suits seek damages for all consumers who have purchased farmed salmon across the country in the last four years That could involve millions of consumers, said Paul Kampmeier, one of the Seattle lawyers representing the plaintiffs Combined, the three companies have some 6,000 stores in 30 states The suit also seeks civil penalties and a court order requiring the stores to label farmed salmon as artificially colored Americans consume about 53 million pounds of farmed salmon a year, nearly all of it imported from Canada, though a small amount is from Washington state, according to the Seattle office of the National Marine Fisheries Service Pigments are mixed with the feed of almost all farmed salmon to give their flesh a pink or red color like that of wild salmon, experts say The pigments are federally approved Wild salmon have pink-to-red flesh from eating tiny crustaceans called krill The suit alleges that because of the type of feed farmed salmon receive, their flesh would be gray without the color additives Wild salmon is usually considerably more expensive than farmed fish "Color is the No factor for the consumer who buys salmon," Kampmeier contended yesterday "Pink sells salmon." However, a National Marine Fisheries Service spokesman said farmed-salmon flesh, minus added color, would be more pink than gray, although probably less pink than that of wild salmon He said the added pigments provide a more consistent color THE SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER April 24, 2003, Thursday FINAL SECTION: NEWS, Pg A1 LENGTH: 1136 words HEADLINE: SUIT IS FILED OVER SALMON ADDITIVE BYLINE: LARRY LANGE P-I reporter BODY: When Lori Thomas of Seattle discovered the salmon that she bought at Albertsons had been raised on feed that artificially kept its flesh pink, she was incensed "There's no way I would have spent my money buying salmon that was colored with a chemical additive to give it the red or orange or pink color," said Thomas, who was still upset yesterday with not being told how the salmon had been raised "If I had been told about the fake color I would have never bought this stuff." Thomas, a fund-raiser for a non-profit organization, is one of eight consumers who've taken three giant supermarket chains to court for not telling them and others how some of their salmon is raised Their case was filed yesterday in King County Superior Court and charges Albertsons, Safeway and the Kroger Co with deception, unfair business practices, breach of warranty and negligent misrepresentation in the sale of farmraised salmon that were fed artificial chemicals as nutrients but not labeled this way Kroger owns two supermarket chains, QFC and Fred Meyer The case isn't expected to go to trial for 18 months, but it is believed to be unprecedented The suit, if successful, could result in millions of dollars in damages being paid in a battle over two versions of Northwest salmon - a regional icon and a popular seafood nationwide "When you fail to label (products) the consumer doesn't have an opportunity to consider the controversy over the safety of these chemicals," said Knoll Lowney, the Seattle attorney representing the consumers "It's unfair, it's deceptive and it's against the law." Representatives for Kroger, Albertsons and Safeway all said they had not seen the lawsuits and could not comment on the specifics "Our goal is to always provide the highest quality and freshest products," said Shane McEntarffer, a spokesman for Boise, Idaho-based Albertsons "We want to assure our customers that we buy our salmon from well-regarded, reputable suppliers who are known for their high quality standards and who guarantee that they comply with all federal, state and local laws," said Cherie Myers, a spokeswoman in the Seattle office of Pleasanton, Calif.-based Safeway "The seafood product we sell in our stores is safe and wholesome." And Cincinnati-based Kroger spokesman Gary Rhodes said, "We believe that the farm-raised salmon sold in our stores is nutritious and wholesome and fully complies with all federal labeling guidelines." One industry official said the two chemicals that turn salmon's flesh pink - canthaxanthin and astaxanthin - are found in nature, as well, and aren't harmful in farm-raised fish "These are the same molecules that make wild salmon pink," said Kevin Bright, general manager of farms for Cypress Island Inc., one of the biggest farmed-salmon producers on the West Coast Fish farmers, the suit notes, artificially color their products by including the two chemicals in the food that the fish eat The practice is done, the suit says, to produce more readily marketable fish flesh, because many consumers won't buy the fish if they don't have that traditional color Farmed fish, the suit says, would have gray flesh were it not for the artificial additives, because they don't get to eat other creatures like shrimp and krill containing the chemicals that give salmon their pinkish hue The suit says both federal and state law require that flesh from farm-raised salmon be labeled as such "Generally, consumers prefer and are willing to pay a higher price for wild salmon as compared to farm-raised salmon," said the complaint filed in court yesterday The suit also says there has been controversy over the effects of one of the chemicals, canthaxanthin, because it has been associated with retinal damage in the human eye Lowney said the European Union has limited the amounts of the chemical that can be fed to farmed salmon, but added that there is "significant controversy" about its effects Lowney said the legal issue wouldn't have arisen had the three retailers revealed the feed's chemical content in their labels The lawsuit does not target any fish farms or brokers of farmed salmon Bright, of Cypress Island, said his company reveals the presence of the two chemicals when it ships fish to its distributor The two substances are added not only to salmon to create the pinkish color but also to hen eggs to turn the yolks bright yellow Canthaxanthin also is used in tanning pills Both chemicals are from the same group of natural substances as beta-carotene Both are antioxidants that give a reddish color to several animals, including lobsters and flamingos In addition to enhancing salmon color, the chemicals help farm-raised salmon reproduce "There are all sorts of color enhancers in the foods we eat It just makes it more appealing to the consumer," Bright said Is the practice deceptive? No, Bright said, because it's the same pigment that occurs naturally and "we label our boxes (of fish) with the color additive and (the markets) as FDA requirements are also supposed to label the fish that way." He estimates that farm-produced fish make up 69 percent of those sold worldwide, important at a time when many fisheries are closed Bright says he suspects much of the anti-farmed salmon effort comes from the wild fish advocates, perhaps from the commercial fishing industry, though Lowney says none of those interests are involved in the lawsuit Some varieties of wild salmon have gray or even white flesh, depending on what they eat, Bright said Interviews with grocery workers and consumers confirmed that many buyers prefer the pink-colored fish, whether they realize the source of the color or not A worker at a QFC seafood counter, who didn't want his name used, said the store probably wouldn't sell a lot of salmon that wasn't pink or was colorless He said it would probably make wild salmon prices go up if salmon wasn't colored "Right now prices are comparable and people don't notice a difference," he said A customer, Bonnie Graham, said she would "probably not" buy fish if it were gray instead of pink "Salmon is supposed to be pink I don't think gray would be very appetizing," she said She said she doesn't know whether the color additive is that bad if it's what makes regular salmon pink At a nearby Safeway store, customer Tanesha Love wondered aloud whether the gray tinges she's seen in some salmon was actually the natural color She said she usually cuts it away She thinks fish should be red, pink or white, and the gray would make it look spoiled Said Love: "I wouldn't eat gray fish." P-I reporter Candace Heckman and The Associated Press contributed to this report P-I reporter Larry Lange can be reached at 206-448-8313 or larrylange§seattlepi.com Stores sued over farmed salmon's fishy color By Judith Blake Seattle Times staff reporter Seattleite Lori Thomas says she never would have purchased farmed salmon had she known it was fed a color additive to make its flesh pink, as experts say most farmed salmon are Thomas said that's why she's joined a class-action lawsuit against Albertsons Inc., alleging the Boise-based grocery chain failed to label its farmed salmon as artificially colored It's one of three similar national class-action lawsuits filed yesterday in King County Superior Court against Safeway, The Kroger Co (which owns QFC and Fred Meyer) and Albertsons The companies had no immediate response, their spokesmen saying they had not seen the complaints "There's no way I would have spent my money buying salmon if I'd known that it wasn't really a red or orange color the way it looks in the store," Thomas said yesterday "I had no way of knowing the salmon I buy is artificially colored." The suits seek damages for all consumers who have purchased farmed salmon across the country in the last four years That could involve millions of consumers, said Paul Kampmeier, one of the Seattle lawyers representing the plaintiffs Combined, the three companies have some 6,000 stores in 30 states The suit also seeks civil penalties and a court order requiring the stores to label farmed salmon as artificially colored Americans consume about 53 million pounds of farmed salmon a year, nearly all of it imported from Canada, though a small amount is from Washington state, according to the Seattle office of the National Marine Fisheries Service Pigments are mixed with the feed of almost all farmed salmon to give their flesh a pink or red color like that of wild salmon, experts say The pigments are federally approved Wild salmon have pink-to-red flesh from eating tiny crustaceans called krill The suit alleges that because of the type of feed farmed salmon receive, their flesh would be gray without the color additives Wild salmon is usually considerably more expensive than farmed fish "Color is the No factor for the consumer who buys salmon," Kampmeier contended yesterday "Pink sells salmon." However, a National Marine Fisheries Service spokesman said farmed-salmon flesh, minus added color, would be more pink than gray, although probably less pink than that of wild salmon He said the added pigments provide a more consistent color : Lawsuits seek to force markets to label artificially colored, farm-raised salmon 04/24/03 MICHAEL MILSTEIN Grocery stores and supermarkets across the Northwest and the nation sell hundreds of tons of rosy red salmon every day But more than half of that salmon is farm-raised and red only because synthetic coloring made it so This fact is the center of a new tangle involving Northwest fishing fleets, which harvest and sell naturally red salmon; and grocery chains that fishermen say ignore federal and state laws requiring labeling that shows farmed salmon contains artificial coloring Floating salmon farms around the world tint their stocks an appealing red with coloring manufactured by Swiss drug giant Hoffmann-La Roche Without the coloring, incorporated in pelletized feed, the farmed salmon's flesh would be dull gray That frustrates economically ailing Northwest fishers eager to sell their pricier wild-caught fish in a market dominated by farmed salmon imports, which sell for less On Wednesday fishermen welcomed class-action lawsuits against three major grocery chains for failing to label farmed salmon as carrying a manufactured hue "It's what we've been saying for years They need to tell people what's in it," said Marty Budnick, a third-generation Astoria fisherman "It's good news for fishermen, because it will help people tell wild fish from farmed." Lawsuits filed in King County Superior Court in Seattle accuse Albertson's, Safeway and The Kroger Co parent of Fred Meyer and Quality Food Centers of duping consumers into paying a premium for farmed salmon that, if left its natural gray color, would languish at lower prices "By concealing the artificial coloration of farm-raised salmon, (grocery chains) have become unjustly enriched as consumers have been and continue to be misled into purchasing farm-raised salmon and/or to purchasing such salmon at inflated prices," the lawsuits say The lawsuits seeks damages on behalf of a national class of shoppers that could reach into the tens of millions of dollars for each chain, said Knoll Lowney, the Seattle attorney who brought the case "This has the potential to represent everyone who has purchased salmon from these stores," he said Spokesmen for the stores Wednesday would not discuss their policies for labeling farmed salmon Albertson's said its goal is "always to provide the highest quality products," while Safeway said it buys only from "well regarded, reputable suppliers known for their high quality." The Kroger Co issued a statement saying its farm-raised salmon "is nutritious and wholesome, and fully complies with all federal labeling guidelines." Wild fish get pink from krill Wild salmon absorb their pink hue from krill and other marine organisms in their diet Farmed salmon including almost all retail Atlantic salmon and some other species eat processed food that lacks such natural colors Salmon farmers mix in manufactured additives marketed by Roche under brand names such as Carophyll Pink The additives include anthaxanthin and canthaxanthin, compounds like those that give carrots their color and also used to tint products such as chicken and margarine Roche says its additives are identical to those consumed by wild salmon, but some studies have found slight chemical differences Purchasers can order salmon colored according to the hues of Roche's trademarked SalmoFan, which resembles a series of salmon-colored swatches Surveys have found consumers will pay most for salmon that's deep red The United States imported about 200,000 tons of farmed salmon worth roughly $810 million last year, most from Canada and Chile The U.S Food and Drug Administration had enacted federal regulations by 1995 requiring retailers to label salmon with added anthaxanthin or canthaxanthin Labels must be visible on individual packaging or on cards with lettering at least a quarter-inch high in freezer cases where fish is displayed in bulk "We wanted to make sure the consumer sees it, so it's not just on the bag of feed fed to the fish," said George Pauli, associate director of the FDA's Office of Science and Policy Oregon adopted identical regulations But they have gone largely unenforced "We were not aware of this requirement until late last fall," said Ron McKay, administrator of the Oregon Department of Agriculture's Food Safety Division After an anonymous telephone call alerted them to the rule, state officials issued a Dec memo to seafood retailers around Oregon warning that "virtually all farm-raised salmon are fed these additives and are subject to these labeling requirements." A labeling issue It's "strictly a labeling issue" and not a public health concern that would warrant halting sales of unlabeled salmon, McKay said State inspectors will spot-check for labels during inspections and advise stores of the rules but probably will not issue penalties for violations "This is not that high of a priority," he said "We're basically going to sit back and, I hope, let it take care of itself." The European Community early this year lowered the canthaxanthin concentrations allowed in salmon feed to less than a third of the level al lowed in the United States, citing concerns the compound can build up in eyes and damage the retina Salmon farmers say the concerns are exaggerated and liken the additives to vitamins that assure farmed salmon a complete diet But the Wednesday lawsuits say stores that not label dodge health risks and environmental concerns that surround salmon farming Critics say Atlantic salmon escaping from farms in British Columbia and Puget Sound could compete with wild Pacific salmon and spread disease Salmon farms may also pollute the ocean with concentrated fish waste, uneaten food and compounds to control disease, critics say A lack of labels "misleads consumers into believing that the unlabeled farm-raised salmon is a wild salmon," the lawsuit says That disassociates it "from the real and/or perceived defects of farmed salmon." Michael Milstein: 503-294-7689; michaelmilstein@news.oregonian.com Copyright 2003 Oregon Live All Rights Reserved B.C fish farms denounce U.S class-action suit Consumers misled by artificial colourant used to turn farm fish pink, suit alleges http://www.canada.com/vancouver/vancouversun/story.asp?id=63C417EA-575E-4541 -9474-A2ACDE396B1C Scott Simpson Vancouver Sun Thursday, April 24, 2003 The biggest customers for B.C.'s salmon farming industry received a jolt of bad publicity Wednesday with an announcement that three major U.S supermarket chains are named in a class-action suit for allegedly deceiving customers about the origins of their product The suit was denounced by the B.C industry, and by an independent media analyst, as a heavy-handed tactic intended to damage British Columbia's share of the U.S market for fresh salmon "I think it's clear that this is a media campaign," said B.C Salmon Farmers Association executive director Mary Ellen Walling Filed in Washington State Superior Court by Seattle law firm Smith & Lowney PLLC, the suit alleges Safeway, Albertson's and Kroger Co misled customers in some 6,000 outlets across 30 states into thinking that farmed salmon was wild salmon It says the retailers achieved this misperception by failing to properly label the product with information about an artificial colourant used in salmon farm feed to turn the flesh of the domestic fish an appealing pink color It says compliance with labelling regulations would allow consumers to make a distinction between wild and farmed salmon It alleges the chains "recklessly misrepresented and concealed from consumers the true nature of their artificially coloured salmon" and thereby caused harm to the complainants it represents The law firm's Web site invites visitors to participate in the suit and asks for financial contributions for what it says will be an expensive court battle "Ultimately it gets down to the fact retailers concealed this information and failed to disclose it to consumers," said lawyer Knoll Lowney "The three largest grocery chains in the U.S failed to label their farmed salmon and in so doing have inflated the price and sold a lot more salmon than they would if consumers knew about it "There is a possibility of confusion when you have pink[-fleshed] salmon and it doesn't say 'artificial colourant.' It's just out there as salmon." U.S regulations compel retailers to assert that their meat, poultry and fish products contain artificial colouring agents if the animals from which those products are derived were raised on feed that included agents aimed at giving the products an appealing colour The colourant canthaxanthin, used by fish farms in B.C and across the world, has been approved for human consumption in Canada, the U.S., Europe and elsewhere, although the European Union recently reduced the amount that could be added in a given volume of feed Canthaxanthin approximates the impact that shrimp and zooplankton have in turning the flesh of wild salmon red B.C annually exports about 50,000 kilograms of farmed salmon to the U.S., about 80 per cent of the total volume produced by B.C salmon farmers, and about half of the farm salmon that consumers south of the border purchase each year Representatives of the companies named in the suit said they have not received copies of it and could not comment on its merits but they said they are confident farmed salmon is an excellent product "We believe the farm-raised salmon sold in our stores is nutritious and wholesome, and fully complies with all federal labelling guidelines," said Kroger corporate communications director Gary Rhodes in a comment echoed by the others "We buy our salmon from well-regarded, reputable suppliers known for their high quality standards, and who guaranteed they comply with all federal, state and local laws," said Safeway public affairs vice-president Brian Dowling Walling said farmed salmon from this B.C "is labelled as farm salmon for export to the U.S." "We believe once the facts are examined, the allegations contained in the lawsuits will be proven false," Walling said She said it was too early to speculate on whether publicity surrounding the lawsuit would harm the B.C industry However, a Simon Fraser University marketing strategy expert said it will be difficult for the B.C industry to avoid consumer fallout in the U.S Lindsay Meredith said he has no doubt the suit was calculated to generate adverse publicity for the industry, not to compel the retailers to change their behavior He said it's always less expensive and easier to complain to regulators and let them handle any potential prosecution at the government's expense Lowney said the suit is not aimed at B.C., and is instead intended to provide some measure of compensation to people who unwittingly ate farmed salmon Meredith said government prosecutions can lead to greater punishment for offenders than what's available in civil court Class-action lawsuits also generate a much bad publicity "It's far more fun to announce a civil suit, because that will get [covered] by the media and have massive impact," Meredith said He portrayed the civil action as part of an orchestrated campaign against the B.C industry which has been beset by controversy and accusations of environmental irresponsibility "Environmentalists are some of the dirtiest fighters in town," Meredith said "Whether it's false statements about old growth forests, or cute seals on the ice pack in Newfoundland, or false statements about the number of dolphins being killed in the tuna catch off California, the list goes on and on "Do I denigrate environmentalists for what they're doing? No Without them we would be much farther down the sewer pipe than we are Am I also suspicious of them and treat them like a very large multinational corporation and suspect some of their tactics? You bet I "When I hear of a civil suit being launched in the U.S regarding farmed salmon, by the environmentalists, I'm naturally very suspicious." © Copyright 2003 Vancouver Sun Intrafish, 24th April US - Lawsuit - Colorants - Farmed Salmon - Retailers Lawsuit claims consumer fraud over farmed salmon colorants Seattle (WA), USA: Plaintiffs in the class action lawsuits filed against three major retailers for failure to label colorants in farmed salmon allege that they were duped into buying misbranded products and are seeking millions of dollars in civil penalties The allegations of consumer fraud against The Kroger Co., Safeway Inc and Albertsons Inc are at the heart of the complaint filed in King County Superior Court Wednesday afternoon “This is about deception,” said Paul Kampmeier, of-counsel with the Seattle law firm of Smith & Lowney, which filed the suit “All the clients that have brought this case feel like they have been duped…Failure to label is unfair, deceptive and against the law.” Under federal and state consumer protection laws, Kampmeier said that the stores are obligated to tell consumers if color – specifically canthaxanthin and astaxanthin - have been added to their products It is a responsibility they have failed to act on, he said In addition, the five named plaintiffs allege that the lack of labeling falsely led them to believe they were purchasing wild salmon and, as a result, they paid an infl ated price Lori Thomas, a plaintiff in the case against Albertsons, commented, “I will pay more for salmon if it looks good… There’s no way I would have bought if its flesh was gray I know other consumers feel the way I do.” Elaborating on this point, Kampmeier said consumers might pay $1.99 for gray salmon but no more than that “Pink sells salmon.” These allegations of consumer deception are listed as causes of actions in the briefs filed on Wednesday: unjust enrichment; unlawful, deceptive and unfair business practices; and negligent misrepresentation Two additional claims listed in the suit - breach of contract and breach of warranties - arise from the legal agreement that is created when a consumer buys a product with certain expectations and a store sells a product with certain claims, Kampmeier explained In the eyes of the law, the transaction forms a contract between the two parties and, by extension, a warranty If the product is not what the seller alleges it to be, then this is a breach of the statute, the attorney said The plaintiffs are seeking a court order requiring the retailers to place labels about the colorants at seafood counters pending the outcome of the lawsuit In addition, they are seeking class action status for all consumers who have bought farmed salmon since April 23, 1999 - the statute of limitations on Washington state’s consumer act In order to obtain the designation, the firm will have to prove that numerous people were affected by the practice and that they have similar claims, among other stipulations The civil penalties could be in the “tens of millions” said Kampmeier, but he could not be more specific He added that the firm is seeking a jury trial In most lawsuits, defendants are required to respond within 20 days A spokesperson for Albertsons said he could not comment on the case because the company had not been served yet, and officials f rom Safeway and Kroger Co did not return calls Kampmeier said plaintiffs targeted the three stores because they are the largest in the US, with 6,000 stores in 30 states between them He added that all of the stores would be affected by the suit When asked if the plaintiffs were alleging human health risks from the colorants, the attorney said that the issue was controversial and not a “fundamental part of our case…our focus is about the deception that happens at the point in sale.” He acknowledged that while there are a number of environmental concerns surrounding farmed salmon as well, the case is about “the consumers’ right to know.” In a statement released late yesterday, Mary Ellen Walling, executive director of the British Columbia Salmon Farmers Association, said: "We are not able to comment on the specifics of the class action lawsuits at this time because we have not had adequate opportunity to review them We firmly believe that farm-raised BC salmon is a safe and healthy food We are proud of our product, and it is labeled as farm salmon for export to the United States We believe that once the facts are examined, the allegations contained in the lawsuits will be proven false.”