Commercial shrimp are trawled at sea or farmed in the tropics. Both can harm the environment. Stiftung Warentest tested 18 frozen shrimp for quality and sustainability. Two products disappoint.
Shrimp are considered dirt eaters, are contaminated with pollutants and cost a lot of money. Today they are available in almost every supermarket. Farms in the tropics are producing in bulk for the Europeans, and fishermen are also catching more than ever. On average, every German eats half a kilogram per year. Mostly frozen. “Stiftung Warentest” took a closer look at 18 of these products.
The positive: Almost two thirds of the products are good overall. This includes almost all pre-cooked shrimp, as well as five raw products. The warm water prawns from Biopolar and the cold water prawns from Lidl and Eismann are particularly classy. They exude “a touch of the sea”, as Stiftung Warentest writes.
The shrimp from Edeka are not convincing
The shrimp from Escal and the two Edeka brands Gut
But the testers are still convinced. From the Rewe Bio Black Tiger shrimp (2.78 euros per 100 grams). Not only do they do “well”, they also bear the Naturland seal, which has very high standards for shrimp farming and environmental protection. We also recommend the raw shrimp from Biopolar (4.65 euros) with the EU organic seal. The best wild-caught cold-water prawns are those from Eismann (EUR 3.10) and Lidl Ocean Sea (EUR 1.63), which carry the MSC seal. But be careful: just because shrimp have a seal doesn’t automatically mean good quality. Naturland convinced the testers the most, with the EU organic seal, checks were more difficult because there is no central office that can provide information about the farms.
You can read the whole test here for a fee!
