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04/09/2021

Victory: Rick Stein Forced to Advertise Faroese Farmed Salmon After Trading Standards Investigation

 



 

Rick Stein has been forced into telling the truth about where his smoked salmon comes from following an investigation by Trading Standards.  Following a complaint by Scottish Salmon Watch, Rick Stein's online shop has deleted reference to "two of England's most celebrated salmon rivers" (the Severn & Wye where the farmed salmon imported from the Faroe Islands are smoked by Severn & Wye Smokery). 

 

Rick Stein Victory #4

 

Rick Stein Victory #8 boutique

 

 

 

 

 

Last month, Scottish Salmon Watch filed a complaint against Rick Stein's smoked salmon with Trading Standards in Cornwall. 

 

 

 

 

Lawrence Woodward (former chairman of the Soil Association's standards committee who objected to 'organic' farmed salmon on BBC Newsnight back in 2006) criticised Rick Stein's "misleading" and "morally bankrupt" advertising in a post on Twitter (25 March 2021).

 

Rick Stein Victory #3

 

 

We were also supported by award-winning food writer Joanna Blythman:

 

Rick Stein Victory #2

 

 

Here's Rick Stein's web-site as of 25 March 2021:

 

Rick Stein blog #4Rick Stein blog #5

 

 

Here's Rick Stein's web-site as of today (9 April 2021):

 

Rick Stein Victory #1

 

 

Rick Stein's online shop also changed the advertising for their 'Salmon Gravadlax' - where there was no reference to farmed salmon - on 25 March 2021:

 

Rick Stein blog #27

 

 

To reference to 'boutique' salmon farms in the Faroe Island on 9 April 2021:

 

Rick Stein Victory #5

 

 

 

 

 

 

Back in 1994, Rick Stein lambasted the taste of farmed salmon in an interview with Joanna Blythman published in The Independent.

 

Rick Stein blog #12

 

 

Scottish Salmon Watch reported (25 March 2021) how Rick Stein's  web-site promoted smoked salmon implying that it is wild salmon caught "on the edge of the royal forest of dean between two of England's most celebrated salmon rivers" (name-checking the Severn & Wye smokery).  

 

Rick Stein blog #26

 

 

Scottish Salmon Watch wrote to Rick Stein (25 March 2021) asking him if the salmon he sources is from disease-ridden salmon farms (in Scotland, the Faroes, Ireland, Tasmania or wherever):

 

Rick Stein blog #1

Rick Stein blog #2

Rick Stein blog #3

 

 

 

 

 

Scottish Salmon Watch is still waiting for a reply from Rick Stein who has a long history of promoting farmed salmon.    In a lockdown video in May 2020 Rick Stein can be seen plugging Tasmanian farmed salmon.

 

Rick Stein blog #8

 

 

 

 

 

Not everyone is a fan of Rick Stein.  The Independent reported in 2015:

 

 

 

 

 

The Severn & Wye smokery cited by Rick Stein certainly uses farmed salmon from Ireland.

 

Rick Stein blog #18

 

 

Severn & Wye's web-site cites wild salmon and rivers but seems coy on the provenance of their salmon:

 

Rick Stein blog #19

Rick Stein blog #20

 

 

You have to delve deeper on their web-site to find specific reference to farmed salmon from Ireland and the Faroe Islands.

 

Rick Stein blog #21

Rick Stein blog #22

 

 

The PDF takes you to a flyer advertising "the finest farmed salmon":

 

Rick Stein blog #23

 

 

Scottish Salmon Watch asked (25 March 2021): Is Rick Stein using Faroese farmed salmon in his signature smoked salmon?

 

Rick Stein blog #24

 

 

Varlaks is owned by Dutch seafood giant Visscher Seafood who is the leading shareholder in 'Organic' Sea Harvest (a Soil Association-certified salmon farmer on the Isle of Skye who reported mass mortalities, infectious disease problems and the use of the lobster-killing pesticide Deltamethrin in 2020):

 

Rick Stein blog #25

 

 

 

 

But it is now believed that VAR salmon is sourced from Hiddenfjord which last year reported reported lice problems.

 

Rick Stein Victory #9 Hiddenfjord lice

 

 

Read more about Hiddenfjord online here

 

Rick Stein Victory #10 Hiddenfjord lice

 

 

 

 



 

Whether it is "raised in the wild" VAR salmon from the Faroes or Varlaks "organic" salmon from Norway, consumers are certainly confused.   However, Food writer Xanthe Clay disgreed on Twitter that Rick Stein's web-site was misleading.

 

 

 

 

 

The Daily Telegraph described VAR's farmed salmon from the Faroes - the fish believed to be now used by Rick Stein's online shop - as 'ethical' "wild salmon from the Faroe Islands" in a shameless feature in 2011 (it's behind a paywall).

 

Rick Stein Victory #6

 

 

 

 

Xanthe Clay was herself promoting 'sustainable' farmed salmon in the Daily Telegraph in December 2011:

 

Rick Stein Victory #7

 

 

Thankfully, BBC Countryfile gave some perspective in December 2020 when they broadcast shocking images of the 'sustainable' farmed salmon from Scottish Sea Farms promoted by Xanthe Clay.

 

 

 

 

 

And further shocking footage inside RSPCA Assured - or as Rick Stein might say, 'boutique' - salmon farms was published just last month by Compassion in World Farming and OneKind:

 

 

 

 

 

As consumers around the globe know full well, there is a world of difference between farmed and wild salmon.    Don't take my word for it - please listen to ocean advocate Katie Tunn on why you should boycott farmed salmon.

 

 

 

 

Please take the salmon pledge today!  Don't be duped by "raised in the wild", "natural", "organic" or "responsibly sourced" marketing. 

 

 

 

 

Last month (21 March 2021), Scottish Salmon Watch filed a complaint against the Soil Association with the Advertising Standards Authority.

 

 

 

 

 

Read more via:

Rick Stein's smoked salmon scam - a fishy case of deceptive advertising & misleading marketing?

Make a Video Pledge to Boycott Farmed Salmon Today!

Toxic Salmon Corrodes Soil Association's 'Organic' Principles

Scottish salmon is so not organic!

Organic Salmon Belongs in the Bin Not Your Shopping Basket!

'Organic' Sea Harvest Challenged by Advertising Standards Authority

Beware Scottish Salmon's Online Scam!

Scottish Scamon - How foreign interests control 99% of 'Scottish' salmon farming

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Addendum:

From: <[email protected]>
Date: Sat, Apr 10, 2021 at 6:43 AM
Subject: Your FOI Request
To: <[email protected]>

Please find a copy of your FOI request below.

Thank you,
Cornwall Council

Todays date
4/10/2021 12:00:00 AM
Title
Mr
First name
Don
Last name
Staniford
Organisation
Scottish Salmon Watch
Telephone number
07771 541826
Email address
[email protected]
The information you require (Please include as much detail as possible)
Please provide information on any investigations into Rick Stein in relation to salmon since 1 January 2021.

Scottish Salmon Watch first raised this issue on 25 March 2021 via:

"Rick Stein's smoked salmon scam - a fishy case of deceptive advertising & misleading marketing?": https://donstaniford.typepad.com/my-blog/2021/03/rick-steins-smoked-salmon-scam-a-fishy-case-of-deceptive-advertising-misleading-marketing-.html

Cornwall Trading Standards Tweeted in reply that their food team was going to look into it: https://twitter.com/TheGAAIA/status/1375449673192906753/


Yesterday (9 April 2021) it appeared that Rick Stein had taken action to correct the information on his web-site (presumably after contact by Trading Standards):

"Victory: Rick Stein Forced to Advertise Faroese Farmed Salmon After Trading Standards Investigation": https://donstaniford.typepad.com/my-blog/2021/04/victory-rick-stein-forced-to-advertise-farmed-salmon-after-trading-standards-investigation.html
The reason(s) you need the information if you think that this will help us to find what you want to know
The public were being deceived and misled.
The way you would like the information supplied to you: (electronic, personal viewing, photocopies etc.)
Electronic via PDFs

 

 

 

 

 

Posted at 07:30 AM |

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