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Government Advises Limited Fish Intake for Certain Women
April 26, 2004
3 Min Read
Government Advises Limited Fish Intake for Certain Women
ROCKVILLE, Md., & WASHINGTONPregnant women, women who maybecome pregnant or nursing mothers and young children should be selective aboutwhat kinds of fish they eat and should limit their fish intake because highlevels of mercury are hazardous to unborn and developing children, according tothe Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency(EPA), which revised their joint consumer advisory on methylmercury in fish andshellfish. This is significant because it is the first time FDA and EPA havecombined their advice into a single uniform advisory; previously FDA issued anadvisory on consumption of commercially caught fish, whereas EPA issued anadvisory on recreationally caught fish.
The new advisory is also different in that it emphasizes the benefits ofeating fish, which is a good source of protein and other nutrients such asessential fatty acids (EFAs), gives examples of commonly eaten fish that are lowin mercury and recommends not to eat any other fish in the same week as locallycaught fish are consumed. There is also a frequently asked question sectionabout mercury levels in fish.
FDA and EPA suggest pregnant women, women who may become pregnant, nursingmothers and young children follow certain guidelines for fish intake:
do not eat shark, swordfish, king mackerel or tilefish, as they contain high levels of mercury;
eat up to 12 oz. (two average meals) per week of a variety of fish and shellfish that are lower in mercury, such as shrimp, canned light tuna, salmon, pollock and catfish;
if eating albacore tuna, limit intake to 6 oz. (one average meal) per week, as it contains more mercury than canned light tuna; and
follow these recommendations when feeding fish and shellfish to young children, but serve smaller portions.
As part of its revised consumer advisory, FDA and EPA will launch acomprehensive outreach and educational campaign. Additional information can befound at www.cfsan.fda.gov and www.epa.gov/ost/fish.
Contamination issues also affect the market for fish oil supplements. Mercurycontamination issues with whole fish carry over to fish oil supplements as well,said V. Srini Srinivasan, Ph.D., vice president of the United StatesPharmocopeias (USP) Verification Program for dietary supplements. Consumersshould be vigilant when selecting fish oil products to make sure they are ofhigh quality and are at low risk of containing harmful pollutants, includingmercury, cadmium, PCBs and heavy metals such as lead and arsenic.
Pronova Biocare, makers of EPAX omega-3 fish oils, emphasized theimportance of the purification process during fish oil supplement production.The company uses a patent-pending purification process to guarantee low contentof environmental pollutants. Holding the market authorization for an omega-3pharmaceutical, the Pronova Biocare organization is well prepared for thechallenge of producing good quality documentation for our product, saidMorten Bryhn, M.D., Ph.D., director of research and development for PronovaBiocare. At [our] factories, the crude fish oil is purified in several steps,some of which are patented processes unique to our products. More than 70controlled clinical studies in patients and healthy individuals have beenpublished on the omega-3 concentrates used in our food supplements.
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