Scottish Quality Salmon

Salmon farming has had a lot of bad press recently and if the scare stories have piqued your interest it's worth checking out this website from Scottish Quality Salmon, the main body of the Scottish salmon farming industry, representing around 65 per cent of the country's production. It covers welfare and environmental issues as well as kite marks to look for, recipes and storage information.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Quality Marks Look here for the tartan salmon quality logo, a recognised trademark, that will be on packs of fish from members of this organisation. Of course they want to assure you that their standards are of the highest calibre, but what's interesting here is that Scottish Quality Salmon was the first non-French product to achieve prestigious Label Rouge status (most famously associated with free range chicken). As they say, it "demonstrates a unique endorsement by the French authorities of the rigorous standards applied by Scottish Quality Salmon members".

Codes of Practice There are several Acrobat Reader files here for you to download, each related to a specific area of salmon production. This section will be of most interest to those actively interested in environmental and welfare issues.

Healthy Eating It's the omega-3 fatty acids in oily fish such as salmon that have prompted nutritionists to recommend it so highly. In fact, the British Nutrition Foundation suggests an intake of 1.2g of omega-3 per day, while most people in the UK consume only 0.2g daily. There is a link here to a separate site on omega-3s for people who want to know more. Practical current advice from the Food Standards Agency is that for a balanced diet we eat two portions of fish a week, one of which should be oil-rich fish such as fresh salmon, tuna, herring, mackerel and sardines. As you'll learn from reading this section, salmon is also a good source of protein, vitamins B,C, D and E and a long list of minerals including calcium, iron and selenium. Also: "Fish oil fatty acids are essential to the growth and development of
unborn and newly born babies and toddlers, particularly for optimum brain and vision development.

Kids Here is an animated information section for children that talks about the life cycle of the salmon and healthy eating. Recipes, including smoked salmon salad, fishcakes and pizza, require some adult supervision but are "easy peasy".

Making the Most of SQS offers all you need to know about buying, preparing, cooking and storing salmon.

Recipes The database allows you to select dishes by cooking method, occasion or accompaniments using a pulldown menus, plus there is the option to choose your recipe based on the cut of salmon you have purchased. The Meal of the Month on our visit was salmon and avocado sushi with chilli
sauce.

Links are primarily of interest to the trade and include smolt producers, ongrowers, governmental and environmental organisations, retailers, smokers and processors.

OTHER FEATURES
About SQS, media releases, photo library, members, stockists.