Many people believe that animal products are healthier than vegan products, but is that actually true?
Revo Foods conducted a comarison of their plant-based salmon with 3 different conventional salmon brands at a certified food analysis laboratory to find out. The findings reveal that conventional salmon contains toxins, such as high amounts of mercury and PCBs. While those substances were not or hardly detected in plant-based ‘Revo salmon’. This shows a significant health benefit for switching to plant-based seafood.
“Revo Salmon” was tested for mercury, dioxins, polychlorinated biphenyls, and other compounds. The results were compared to the ones of three smoked salmon brands found in Austrian super-market chains.
An international food laboratory analysis shows that the vegan smoked salmon slices contain little to no detectable amounts of mercury, dioxins, and polychlorinated biphenyls (these trace amounts, occurring naturally in foods like apples, are harmless to the human body, remaining below the detection limit) all of which are commonly found in commercially purchased salmon.
Mercury in Conventional vs. “Revo Salmon”
Mercury is a toxic heavy metal found naturally in the environment. At the same time, it is also released into the environment through industrial production.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), mercury is one of the top ten chemicals of major public health concern. That is because it has toxic effects on the nervous, digestive, and immune systems. The same goes for lungs, kidneys, skin, and eyes. That is the reason why doctors now advise pregnant women to eliminate seafood from their diet to avoid exposing the baby to toxic substances.
Tolerable weekly intakes of methylmercury (which is found in seafood) are about 1.3 µg/kg of body weight. That means that an adult human who weighs 70 kg can consume 91 µg of methylmercury per week, without having any negative side effects.
According to the lab findings, the average mercury concentration of the three conventional smoked salmon products is 37 µg/kg. The concentration for “Revo Salmon” is less than 10 µg/kg, which is below the detection limit. This shows a clear benefit of plant-based salmon for preventing the intake of heavy metals.
Dioxins & Polychlorinated Biphenyls in Conventional vs. “Revo Salmon”
Dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs are toxic chemicals that persist in the environment for years and accumulate in the food chain. Long-term exposure to dioxins can potentially lead to cancer and/or other health problems. According to scientific observations, dioxins may be linked to type 2 diabetes and obesity, increased mortality from cardiovascular disease, effects on the immune, nervous, and reproductive systems. Moreover, we do know that lower sperm concentrations in males are a consequence of higher exposure in the womb and after birth.
Tolerable weekly intake for dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs has been lowered in 2018 to 2 pg/kg body weight, due to new scientific studies and evidence. That means that a 70 kg person should consume no more than 140 pg a week. The lab results showed that the average concentration of conventional salmon was 493 pg/kg. That means that consuming just 300 gram of regular salmon per week can already expose an adult to a dangerously high amount of dioxins.
The concentrations in “Revo Salmon” were only 106 pg/kg, hardly above the detection limit. This means consuming over 1 kg of “Revo Salmon” over the same time period is still safe. Another clear health benefit for the vegan alternative.
Conclusion
Conventional salmon contains toxins for instance, high amounts of mercury and PCBs, indicating a potential health risk when consuming larger amounts. On the contrary, vegan salmon does not or hardly contains those substances, showing a clear health benefit.
Background
Revo Foods, founded in 2020, is an Austrian startup that is developing new plant-based seafood alternatives. Their first products, Smoked Salmon Alternatives, are already available in 16 European countries, including supermarkets in Austria and Germany.
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