News Coverage
FDA Under Fire on Mercury in Fish Advice
Published December 9, 2003
WASHINGTON -- The government is resisting calls to advise pregnant women to limit tuna consumption, even though its own advisers say eating very large amounts could expose unborn babies to possibly harmful mercury levels.
Drafts of new consumer advice being planned by the Food and Drug Administration drew an outcry from consumer advocates Tuesday. They pointed to new testing by FDA showing more expensive white, or albacore, canned tuna contains almost three times more mercury than cheaper "light" canned tuna -- and wonder why the new advice won't tell pregnant women to limit the albacore.
"They've completely failed in their obligation to protect the public," said Richard Wiles of the Environmental Working Group, which plans a legal challenge if the advisory isn't changed. Fish, including tuna, is very nutritious. Many species contain certain fats called omega-3s that are very heart-healthy and important for fetal brain development. The American Heart Association recommends eating fish twice a week.
But fish also can harbor mercury, a metal that accumulates in the bodies of fish-eaters and can damage the growing brains of fetuses and young children. About 8 percent of U.S. women of childbearing age have enough mercury in their blood to put a fetus at risk.
Some fish varieties harbor more mercury than others. The FDA has long told women who may become pregnant to avoid: shark, swordfish, king mackerel and tilefish.
But FDA in 2001 said a few servings a week -- totaling 12 ounces -- of any other fish is healthy during pregnancy. That sparked fierce criticism from consumer advocates who argue that tuna, with moderately high mercury levels, is eaten so often by pregnant women and young children that it needed warnings, too.
In 2002, FDA's own advisers recommended saying that two 6-ounce cans of tuna a week is fine if that's the only fish pregnant women eat, or a single can if they eat other fish.
The FDA reconsidered, and drafts of its latest plan -- to be presented to those advisers this week -- show the agency didn't heed that recommendation.
The drafts instead say that mercury levels in tuna vary, and that tuna steaks and canned albacore "generally contain higher levels of mercury than canned light tuna."
The new advice also stresses to eat a variety of fish, not the same type more than once a week, said Dr. David Acheson, FDA's medical officer in charge of the issue. But it doesn't single out limits for tuna.
"We're going to stand by our advisory," Acheson said. "We believe that if people follow what's written in the advisory, there will be a significant level of protection."
But recent FDA testing shows that canned albacore contains almost three times the mercury as canned light tuna -- and critics say that means a single 6-ounce can of albacore a week could put many women, depending on their size, over the safe mercury limit.
Mercury accumulates in fish over time; canned light tuna comes from small fish, albacore and steaks from large ones.
Eleven states already tell pregnant women to limit consumption of canned tuna, and Rhode Island last summer told them to avoid albacore, said Michael Bender of the Mercury Policy Project.
Nobody actually knows how much tuna or other mercury-containing fish pregnant women and young children eat today. But last year tuna slipped from the most-eaten seafood to No. 2, replaced by shrimp.
Even though albacore has more mercury than light tuna, it still contains levels well below FDA's safe limits, stressed Dave Burney of the U.S. Tuna Foundation.
"Albacore tuna happens to have more omega-3 in it than any other fish," he said. "Any advice for women to not eat fish is the wrong message to send." But Consumers Union is urging FDA to rewrite its advice and tell consumers what the lowest-mercury options are -- such as crab, catfish, flounder, salmon and shrimp -- instead of focusing just on what to avoid.
"The message should be, 'Eat more fish for your health while minimizing your mercury intake," said Consumers Union scientist Edward Groth.
Also, parents need to know how much fish is safe for young children, he said. FDA's planned advice just says they should eat less than adults.
Tuna aside, FDA's draft advice does warn that fish caught from local lakes and rivers often contain more mercury than commercial fish -- so heed local warnings on which freshwater fish to avoid. If there is no advice for your area, eat no more than 6 ounces of locally caught fish a week, it says.