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Leading Tuna Brands High in Mercury

55 percent of samples from the three leading brands of canned tuna contained unsafe levels of mercury. Mercury buildup can damage the brain, kidneys, and lungs and is particularly dangerous in pregnant women and children.

A University of Nevada study examined 300 samples of tuna and found that some contained double the safe mercury levels set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. White tuna from albacore had the highest mercury levels.

Americans are eating more fish because of the health benefits of Omega-3 fatty acids, but blood mercury levels increased 30 percent in only 10 years. Large fish such as tuna, shark, swordfish, and king mackerel often have unacceptably high levels of mercury that can cause serious health problems and birth defects. Eat fish lower in mercury, such as salmon, or take high-quality, uncontaminated fish oil supplements (300 milligrams DHA per day). (HealthDay, February 4, 2010)

Posted by Robbie Durand musculardevelopment.com
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PeteBauman: “best” is all relative, but it’s pretty accepted that salmon has the most to offer in terms of omega-3 fatty acids. sardines are actually packed full of them too, and they’re super convenient to eat, but salmon is king.
  • 07/30/2010
 
llulko: I have fish every night for dinner! I alternate turbot, shrimp, tuna steaks, salmon, hailbut, tilipia and cod.  Other then the tuna i dont think they have much mercury.. 

What is the best wild fish to eat?
  • 07/29/2010
 
Nuwanee: We need to get big industry to stop polluting the ocean and leave our food supply alone.

I agree that you need to eat your fishies too, and the best part about seafood is that it is high in selenium, a trace mineral that actually helps to neutralize the effects of mercury acquired from foods. A 2005 conference in Washington sponsored by the governments of the US, Norway, Iceland and Canada assisted by the United Nations’ Food Agriculture Org presented evidence, explaining why some cultures that rely on seafood as their primary protein and eat it as often as 12 times a week can show no signs of toxicity. So keep eating your seafood! ^_^
  • 07/29/2010
 
PeteBauman: the FDA and EPA are doing their jobs in terms of warning about mercury levels, but they are doing it almost too well and risking scaring people away from eating fish and seafood, one of the best foods we can eat. i agree that it’s disconcerting how much mercury is in our ocean-based food supply, but the FDA and EPA set the cutoff levels much lower than they need to be as a precaution.

pregnant women should definitely monitor their intake as much as they possibly can, but for the general public they are probably okay. avoid the most contaminated types of fish (shark, mackerel, swordfish) and make sure you are eating wild salmon instead of farmed, canned light tuna (which has lower levels of mercury for some reason), and maybe watch the news wire for early reports of possible contaminations.

fish is way too good a food for us to not be eating, and i still recommend trying to eat it as often as 3-4 times a week.
  • 07/29/2010
 
 
 
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