The US government have just released new food safety guidelines classifying fish into three categories to help pregnant and breastfeeding women to make safe choices.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have sorted sixty-two varieties of fish and shellfish into three different sections: best choices: eat two to three servings a week; good choices: eat one serving a week; and avoid.
The FDA and EPA recommend two to three servings per week of lower-mercury fish and shellfish, a category that includes some of the most commonly eaten varieties such as prawns, salmon, canned tuna, and cod.
However anti-mercury advocates and scientists have said that the new government advice will expose babies to too much mercury and that consuming tuna is not worth the risk for pregnant women. They maintain that the science used to develop the guidelines is dangerously outdated and not based on the latest peer-reviewed research.
Sonya Lunder of the Environmental Working Group says that their recent study demonstrates that following the updated US guidelines will put babies at risk. The EWG looked at the diet of 254 women who ate at least two meals of fish every week and measured mercury levels in their hair to assess neurotoxin levels in their bodies.
The findings showed that almost 30 percent of participants had too much exposure; (their mercury level exceeded recommended amounts). The group say that much of the participants’ exposure was tied to consumption of fish like tuna that are still advised by the FDA as being a ‘best choice’. Lunder commented:
“Our research suggests that women who follow this advice will consume dangerous amounts of mercury. Women of child bearing age and pregnant women in particular need advice to reduce their exposure. This advice doesn’t do that.”
Michael Bender, the director of the Mercury Policy Project group says the government’s latest advice is risky:
“FDA’s advice does not protect babies – nor future generations – from mercury exposure risks. The most important advice any agency could give to pregnant women to reduce their mercury exposure is don’t eat tuna.”
Research indicates that nearly half (47 percent) of American’s exposure to methylmercury comes from tuna consumption, but Dr. Stephen Ostroff, the FDA’s deputy commissioner for foods says that the new nutrition guidelines are safe:
“Fish are an important source of protein and other nutrients for young children and women who are or may become pregnant, or are breast-feeding. This advice clearly shows the great diversity of fish in the US market that they can consume safely.”
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