News Coverage
Fish Safety Alert
Published September 30, 2002
When the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) released its fish advisories last year, it warned pregnant and nursing women, as well as small children, to avoid eating shark, swordfish, king mackerel, and tilefish because high levels of methyl mercury in these large fish can harm developing brains and nervous systems. It also recommended that this group limit intake of other kinds of fish to 12 ounces per week for adults (or 2 ounces per week for a toddler) since even smaller fish contain low levels of mercury. Now an advisory panel to the FDA has proposed another recommendation: Pregnant and nursing women--in addition to all women of childbearing age--should limit their intake of tuna until further research on mercury is complete. The FDA will likely update its fish advisory next year and still stands by its previous warnings that don't specifically limit tuna.
Until the agency issues an update, however, some experts recommend that pregnant and nursing women take a more cautious approach and avoid eating tuna steaks (which come from larger fish) and limit their intake of canned tuna (made from younger, smaller fish) and fresh-caught fish to 6 ounces per week.
Despite the warnings, fish is a healthy source of protein during pregnancy--omega-3 fatty acids can boost fetal and infant brain development. What are the safest choices? According to the Environmental Working Group, fish that contain the lowest levels of mercury are farmed catfish, mid-Atlantic blue crab, croaker, fish sticks (usually made from pollack), summer flounder, haddock, farmed trout, wild Pacific salmon, and shrimp.