--- title: This Week in Health: How Farmers Turn Salmon Pink description: This week's health news explored why farmed salmon is so pink, why dog walkers get more exercise and how to eat more vegetables. canonical: https://time.com/4817867/farmed-salmon-obesity-french-fries/ author: Alexandra Sifferlin article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-06-15T16:15:29.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-05-11T04:58:45.985Z article:section: Health og:title: This Week in Health: How Farmers Turn Salmon Pink og:description: Here's the latest on farmed salmon, veggie-rebranding and dog walking og:url: https://time.com/4817867/farmed-salmon-obesity-french-fries/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt302fe7244c69fab3/698781512dce0139609ddc71/time-50-healthiest-foods-salmon.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: healthiest foods, health food, diet, nutrition, time.com stock, salmon, fish, protein og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: This Week in Health: How Farmers Turn Salmon Pink twitter:description: Here's the latest on farmed salmon, veggie-rebranding and dog walking twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt302fe7244c69fab3/698781512dce0139609ddc71/time-50-healthiest-foods-salmon.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # This Week in Health: How Farmers Turn Salmon Pink by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Jun 15, 2017 4:15 PM UTC  Danny Kim for TIME by [Alexandra Sifferlin](https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/) ## Alexandra Sifferlin Jun 15, 2017 4:15 PM UTC This week revealed a little-known secret about the vibrant pink color of farm-raised salmon: it comes from a [pigmenting chemical](http://time.com/4790794/farmed-salmon-pink/) farmers feed their fish. Here’s what else caught our attention in health this week. (Sign up for the [TIME Health newsletter](http://time.com/newsletter-health) for more.) ## [How farmers turn their salmon pink](http://time.com/4790794/farmed-salmon-pink/)  Fresh and healthy Norwegian salmon cut., Getty Images Farm-raised salmon would naturally be white, but farmers add a coloring chemical to their feed to turn it reddish-pink. That’s because consumers will pay up to $1 more per pound for darker colored salmon compared to salmon with lighter hues. ## [How to get a no-sun tan](http://time.com/4815353/safer-no-sun-tan/) No, it doesn’t involve staining your skin orange. This tanning process, newly discovered by scientists, triggers the natural burnishing process inside your skin that occurs when you tan—but without the sun. ## [It’s official: Dog owners walk way more than you](http://time.com/4819108/dog-owners-exercise/)  Getty Images Barking news: dog owners walk an extra 23 minutes a day, according to a new study. They took an extra 2,760 steps compared to people without a canine companion. ## [The easiest way to eat more vegetables](http://time.com/4813320/how-to-eat-more-vegetables-food/) Researchers found an ingenious way to get people to eat more vegetables just by calling them something seductive. People were more likely to buy beets, for example, if they were labeled “dynamite chili and tangy lime-seasoned beets.” ## [Almost 30% of people in the world are obese or overweight](http://time.com/4813075/obesity-overweight-weight-loss/)  Molly Cranna for TIME Obesity rates in 70 countries have doubled since 1980\. The rates of death from weight-related health problems are also shockingly high, according to the latest numbers. ## [Teens are getting more depressed but using fewer drugs](http://time.com/4811761/teens-depression-drug-abuse/) A new report compiles information on mental health and substance use among teen and adults in the U.S., and the picture is mixed. ## [Eating french fries is linked to a higher risk of death](http://time.com/4811136/fried-potatoes-mortality-study/)  Molly Cranna for TIME A new study finds that eating fried potatoes at least twice a week is associated with an increased risk of death. That’s a bummer, but unfried potatoes, like those baked and mashed, did not appear to have the same risk. ## [Most premature babies do well in school later on](http://time.com/4814507/premature-babies-school/) There’s good news for extremely premature babies. Most preemies are ready to begin kindergarten on time and perform as well as full-termers in primary and middle school, new research finds. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4817867/farmed-salmon-obesity-french-fries/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4817867/farmed-salmon-obesity-french-fries/"},"headline":"This Week in Health: How Farmers Turn Salmon Pink","datePublished":"2017-06-15T16:15:29.000Z","dateModified":"2026-05-11T04:58:45.985Z","description":"This week's health news explored why farmed salmon is so pink, why dog walkers get more exercise and how to eat more vegetables.","url":"https://time.com/4817867/farmed-salmon-obesity-french-fries/","keywords":["this week in health","Vegetables","overweight","Obesity","Salmon","French Fries"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt302fe7244c69fab3/698781512dce0139609ddc71/time-50-healthiest-foods-salmon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Alexandra Sifferlin","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/alexandra-sifferlin/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt302fe7244c69fab3/698781512dce0139609ddc71/time-50-healthiest-foods-salmon.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"healthiest foods, health food, diet, nutrition, time.com stock, salmon, fish, protein","caption":"healthiest foods, health food, diet, nutrition, time.com stock, salmon, fish, protein","creditText":"Danny Kim for TIME","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/this-week-in-health/","name":"this week in health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4817867/farmed-salmon-obesity-french-fries/","name":"This Week in Health: How Farmers Turn Salmon Pink"}}]}] ```