Mercury News

Center for Science in the Public Interest Urges Mercury Outreach

July 6, 2006 - The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) issued a news release urging the Food and Drug Administration to provide consumers with in-store Mercury information for seafood. They say that the consumer does not have adequate information about which species are high or low mercury choices, and that many are unaware of advisory warnings.

FDA to investigate mercury in 'light tuna'

December 31, 2005, CHICAGO Tribune- The Food and Drug Administration will investigate whether tens of millions of cans of tuna sold each year contain potentially hazardous levels of mercury. Responding to a Chicago Tribune series on mercury in fish, the FDA said it will review the possibility that there are elevated mercury levels in some cans of ''light tuna,'' one of America's best-selling seafoods and a product the agency has repeatedly recommended as a low-mercury choice.

Updated Mercury Information Available from FDA

January 18, 2006 - The FDA CFSAN/Office of Seafood offers the following information on its website:

New Website to address Consumer Confusion Over Mercury Levels in Seafood

WASHINGTON, Oct. 14 /PRNewswire/ -- With mounting evidence that concernsabout mercury in fish may be causing some consumers to disregard important health messages about seafood consumption, a leading academic center today a resource directory on the World Wide Web to help the public understand the science-based facts upon which to make their seafood purchasing decisions. Developed and hosted by the University of Maryland's newly formed Center for Food, Nutrition, and Agriculture Policy (CFNAP), http://www.realmercuryfacts.org is the outgrowth of a national survey,documenting extensive public confusion about mercury levels in seafood and agrowing knowledge gap about which species of fish are high or low in mercury.

Researchers are urging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to lower the mercury level in commercial fish.

CHICAGO, Dec 17, 2004 (United Press International via COMTEX)

In a study on canned fish published in this month's Journal of Food Science, researchers called on the FDA to reduce the mercury allowable from 1,000 parts per billion to meet public health standards and ensure the safety of infants and developing fetuses. Authors consider this reduction a way for women of child-bearing age who regularly eat substantially high amounts of canned tuna to benefit from its important omega-3 Other Benefits and remain safe from exposing their babies to unhealthy mercury levels. The study also recommends introduction of a "kid-safe" label for the variety of canned tuna shown to have very low mercury levels comparable to canned salmon and mackerel. Also recommended was that pregnant or nursing women and children reduce their intake of canned white albacore tuna and eat more canned salmon and mackerel. Each is higher in the omega-3 fatty acids.

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