Current status: Answered by Mairi Gougeon on 20 February 2026
To ask the Scottish Government what data it holds regarding the presence of contaminants in farmed salmon produced in Scotland, including (a) microplastics, (b) heavy metals, (c) per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and (d) antibiotic residues.
Local authorities are responsible for food safety sampling to ensure food producers comply with food safety legislation, however, it is the responsibility of food businesses to demonstrate the safety of their products. Sampling data is recorded centrally by Food Standards Scotland (FSS) on the Scottish Food Sampling Database to find data, spot trends and guide sampling and interventions.
The Scottish Government does not hold any data on microplastics in farmed salmon. There are currently no regulatory standards for microplastics in food and animal feed and methods for measuring microplastics in these matrices have not yet been standardised and harmonised.
The Veterinary Medicines Directorate (VMD), an agency of the UK Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), is responsible for the analysis of chemical contaminants in salmon and organises the testing of salmon samples for heavy metals, per and polyfluoroalkyl substances and antibiotic residues. Details of the testing outputs can be found on the VMD's webpage.