A GROUP of American food scientists has issued a report saying that farmed Scottish salmon is the worst in the world when it comes to artificially introduced chemicals, including highly toxic dioxins.

The report has caused outrage amongst Scottish fish farmers but the American experts are standing b y their findings which, they say, came after they had tested samples of farmed salmon from every corner of the globe.

The news will come as little surprise to British game fisherman who fish for wild salmon, because stocks of these in rivers which flow into sea lochs where caged salmon are farmed have been mysteriously falling for many years.

The Scottish producers have hit back, however, saying that the traces of chemical residues found in their salmon are well within safety limits set by the World Health Organisation - and point out that medical research has proved that a healthy diet for humans should include at least two portions oily fish, such as salmon, a week.