December 18, 2003 – The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) adds tuna to its list of fish to avoid because of their high mercury content, after being criticized by various stakeholders criticizing it for its lack of rigor.
Until now, the FDA has strongly recommended that pregnant women, women who think they might become pregnant, or women who are breastfeeding to avoid consuming shark, swordfish, king mackerel (king mackerel; a fish of the mackerel family) and tile (tilefish), since these presented an unacceptable risk of mercury contamination.
Tuna did not appear on this list, much to the indignation of several speakers. Yet recent FDA testing found canned albacore tuna to contain up to three times the mercury of light tuna.
Radio-Canada1 recently reported on a study carried out by the University of Quebec in Montreal according to which albacore tuna contains seven times more mercury than light tuna, and that that kept in water contains even more mercury than that of light tuna. in oil. (Albacore tuna, however, contains many more essential omega-3 fatty acids than light tuna. Their conclusion: eat albacore tuna less often and light tuna in oil more frequently, since the latter contains enough fatty acids. to derive benefits).
In an attempt to silence its critics, the FDA clarified this week that affected women should not eat more than 340g of fish per week, and that this amount should come from several different fish. Still unsatisfied, detractors of the FDA instead asked him to create a simple list, which would explain which types of fish are safe and which types to avoid.
Jean-Benoit Legault – PasseportSanté.net
According to Radio-Canada, Associated Press, Reuters Health, Washington post.
1. The grocery store, www.radio-canada.ca.