High mercury levels in sushi
Attention, sushi lovers. So much for the Okinawan diet. Your favorite delicacy might actually be contaminated with mercury.
A survey by the New York Times in October last year showed that mercury in tuna sushi is, in some cases, way above the safety levels set by the Environmental Protection Agency. The Times sampled and tested sushi from restaurants and stores in New York City. Bluefin tuna especially seems to have high mercury content.
In 2004, warning against the consumption of certain types of canned tuna was issued especially for children and women who are breasfeeding or may be pregnant. However, raw tuna wasn’t included in the warning. Experts say that although the tests were only performed in sushi sold in New York, this level of mercury contamination may actually be true everywhere.
Sources:
International Herald Tribune, January 22, 2008
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Gavin Gibbons says...
Your readers deserve balanced, well informed nutrition and medical information and reporting on the New York Times recent assessment of concerns about mercury in seafood provides them neither. The Times story has been thoroughly discredited for its lack of balance and its failure to include the latest scientific research. In Sunday February 17th edition of the Times the paper?s own Public Editor criticized the story calling it ?less balanced than it should have been,? and an article that ?required careful judgment? and missed.? The Times has already run one correction and independent sources from Time Magazine and Slate.com to the Center for Independent Media have discredited the story. At a time when the average American eats about 16 lbs of seafood a year, when health professionals suggest eating 39 lbs, we can hardly afford to unnecessarily scare consumers away from a product that proven-science tells us aids in the fight against Alzheimer?s disease, combats obesity and can reduce your risk of dying from a heart attack by 36%. Harvard researcher Dr. Dariush Mozaffarian put it this way in Time Magazine, ?we are experimenting with people’s lives when we give recommendations or write stories or reports that make people eat less fish.? The US Food and Drug Administration advice for women who are or may become pregnant is very clear that fish and shellfish are an important part of a healthy diet. And because of seafood?s role in building healthy hearts and brains, women and young children in particular should include fish or shellfish in their diets. http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/admehg3.html Women in this category are encouraged to eat 12 ounces of seafood per week, of which six ounces can be albacore tuna. They should avoid shark, king mackerel, tilefish, and swordfish. You are correct that ?raw tuna? was not mentioned in the advisory but that is likely because, as a precaution, pregnant women are advised to steer clear of all raw animal protein to prevent food borne illness.
Gavin Gibbons
National Fisheries Institute
Science-mom says...
Thank you for the clarification. And I apologize if this post turned people off fish. That wasn`t my attention. Lesson learned: we shouldn`t believe everything that`s on the news including those reported by respected papers like the New York Times.
Hillary says...
This doesn’t turn me off to sushi… just the tuna kind.
I was told by my OB/GYN that tuna is okay in small quanities, but not to make it my sole food!
Dawn Allcot says...
Pregnant women shouldn’t be eating sushi anyway, from what I’ve read, because there is a higher chance of food poisoning, just as with any raw foods. Only in sushi that’s bad, of course, but it’s one of the “riskier” foods to eat, in that regard.
Gavin, informative comment. Thanks for clarifying.