This article appears as part of the Winds of Change newsletter.

“At three weeks to go till Christmas,” says a voiceover in a new French documentary, ”we are all asking the same question, 'What does one put at the foot of the tree, and above all, on our tables?'”

A camera sweeps from wrapped presents to a table laid for Christmas dinner, and the voice says, “The product that is still a hit this year… here it is... salmon.” A plate heaped with pink-hued folds and laces revolves under Christmas baubles.

But this is not a happy Christmas tale of merry fish living their best lives till they land on a cordon bleu, French festive platter. The documentary, broadcast last Sunday on France’s M6 channel, is titled, 'Salmon and counterfeits: an investigation into the hidden face of Christmas'. It takes the viewer on a dive into two seasonal consumer issues - the poor quality of counterfeit toys and fashion, and the welfare and quality issues around salmon.

On one of the first stops on the documentary's trip, we are introduced to a glorious sweeping vision of Scotland, "a true paradise”. A boat heads out, with activists, to an unnamed farm off the west coast of Scotland, where it picks up footage of salmon dotted with lice.

This film, which also visits a plant processing Mowi Norwegian salmon in France. a business fair and the only French salmon farm, is not the only recent French critique of Scottish salmon.

The show comes hot on the heels of another French documentary on channel TF1, earlier this year, a Le Monde article in late........

© Herald Scotland