Farmed Atlantic salmon may contain substantially lower levels of two important heart healthy nutrients than older federal data indicated, according to a new study led by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Celebrity chef Andrew Zimmern, however, is warning against applying the findings too broadly.

The research, recently published in the journal Frontiers in Nutrition, found that farmed Atlantic salmon contained 63.8% less eicosapentaenoic acid, known as EPA, compared with older federal nutritional data. It also contained 47.5% less docosahexaenoic acid, known as DHA.

EPA and DHA are two important omega-3 fatty acids found in salmon. Researchers suggested that the differences could be connected to changes in fish feed, as salmon farms increasingly replace marine fish oils with plant based oils.

Zimmern, a James Beard Award winning chef and coauthor of “The Blue Food Cookbook,” questioned whether the findings adequately captured the differences among salmon producers around the world. He has personally visited salmon farms in Chile and said farming practices can vary considerably.

“What we should be calling for is not to eliminate farmed seafood . How do we make it better?” Zimmern told Fox News Digital. His response focused on improving aquaculture rather than discouraging consumers from eating farmed seafood entirely.

The study examined eight farmed Atlantic salmon fillets purchased from retailers in the mid Atlantic region. That limited sample prompted questions about whether its findings represented the wider aquaculture industry and the range of production methods used by different salmon farms.

Zimmern said his experience with salmon farms showed that producers do not all operate in the same way or deliver the same results. “There are some really good ones and [there are some] that are not so good,” he said.

The celebrity chef has long advocated for Americans to eat more responsibly sourced seafood. He argued that the better response to concerns about farmed fish is to improve production and sourcing rather than steer consumers away from the category altogether.

“Seafood has to prove itself innocent all the time, because everybody assumes it’s just guilty, guilty, guilty.” Zimmern said consumers often subject seafood to scrutiny that they do not apply equally to other animal proteins.

He also raised questions about what would replace farmed seafood if consumers rejected it on a broad scale. “The question is what’s going to replace it? We have a very reactionary society. Right? You can’t take away millions, tens of millions, hundreds of millions, pounds of food globally and not replace it with something else,” he said.

A USDA spokesperson told Fox News Digital that the salmon used in the research was selected to update existing nutritional information. The spokesperson also addressed the questions surrounding the study’s sample size.

“The number of samples was based on standard methods used to evaluate whether nutrient levels have changed meaningfully since earlier analyses,” the spokesperson said. The agency did not present the results as a reason for consumers to stop eating farmed salmon.

Instead, the USDA emphasized that the fish continues to provide valuable nutrients despite the reductions found when compared with older federal data. “The study found that farmed Atlantic salmon remains a nutritious source of omega-3 fatty acids and other key nutrients,” the spokesperson said.

Zimmern previously told Fox News Digital that consumers should examine where their seafood comes from and how it is produced. He argued that those considerations are more useful than simply choosing between wild caught and farm raised fish.

His latest comments maintained that position while challenging sweeping judgments about aquaculture. The study documented lower EPA and DHA levels in the eight tested fillets, while both Zimmern and the USDA cautioned against interpreting those findings as a reason to abandon farmed salmon.