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Outlines Inaccuracies in Media Reports
WASHINGTON, Jan. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- The U.S. Tuna Foundation today
challenged news reports about the use of yellowfin in canned tuna, stating
that all tuna species in canned light tuna contain mercury levels that are
very low and are considerably less that what the federal government allows.
Responding to a new article in the Chicago Tribune, the U.S. Tuna
Foundation (USTF) stated that if the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
conducts a review of mercury levels in canned light tuna, the agency will find
that canned light tuna is a very low mercury fish. This is because the
majority of canned light tuna is packed with skipjack tuna, a species that is
exceeding low in mercury. Depending upon supplies, the industry occasionally
uses small quantities of yellowfin, containing equally low levels of mercury.
As a result, the average amount of mercury in light tuna -- including cans
that contain yellowfin -- is 0.12 parts per million (ppm), which is eight
times lower than the very conservative 1.00-ppm limit for commercial fish set
by the Food and Drug Administration. This puts light canned tuna in the same
low-mercury category as shrimp, salmon, and pollock.
"When yellowfin is used in canned light tuna, the mercury level is very
low," said Dave Burney, USTFs Executive Director. "No one is at risk from
the minute amounts of mercury in any form of canned tuna."
The U.S. Tuna Foundation also clarified inaccurate reporting about how
yellowfin tuna is packed and marketed to American consumers. Considered one of
the most valuable of all tunas worldwide and therefore, much more expensive
than skipjack, most of the larger yellowfin are used in sushi or tuna steaks.
However, less than 5 percent of the entire canned tuna market is specialty
packs of yellowfin that are packed in the European style with olive oil and
marketed as a gourmet item.
Along with clarifying questions about the use of yellowfin tuna, the U.S.
Tuna Foundation emphasized that no government study has ever found unsafe
levels of mercury in anyone who ate canned tuna. This includes two large
studies conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC),
which found that every one studied --100 percent -- had mercury levels that
were significantly below the threshold for any known risk. USTF also pointed
to a recent study by the National Institute for Minamata Disease in Japan
where people eat an average of 145.7 pounds of tuna and other fish a year,
compared to only 16.6 pounds for the average American. According to this
study, 72 percent of all Japanese women have significantly higher
concentrations of mercury in their systems without any evidence of health
effects. Further, the study found that Japanese children were not affected by
their high blood mercury levels or the high blood mercury levels of their
mothers. In fact, Japanese children tend to score extremely high in IQ tests.
"From the standpoint of public health, the real risk for the public is not
getting enough canned tuna in your diet," said Burney. "If the public reduces
or eliminates fish consumption based on unsubstantiated risks concerns, they
will lose a number of well-established health benefits."
Specifically, the U.S. Tuna Foundation pointed to the findings of a major
study by the Harvard Center for Risk Analysis, which confirms that the health
benefits of consuming seafood far outweigh any risk due to trace amounts of
mercury in fish. Published in the November 2005 issue of the American Journal
of Preventive Medicine, the new study concludes that for women of childbearing
age, cognitive benefits can be achieved with virtually no negative impact on
the developing child if women of childbearing age eat two servings a week of
fish that are low in mercury. The Harvard researchers further reveal that if
Americans reduce their fish consumption out of confusion about mercury, there
will be serious public health consequences, notably higher death rates from
heart disease and stroke.
This is also consistent with the joint seafood advisory issued in 2004 by
the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U. S. Environmental
Protection Agency (EPA). Both agencies closely studied the best available
science relating to mercury in seafood, and their advisory is based on a
careful review of the facts relating to fish consumption. The 2004 FDA and EPA
advisory is specifically for women who are pregnant (or might become
pregnant), nursing women and young children, and provides clear and
appropriate guidance about the best ways to incorporate fish into a healthy
diet.
The U.S. Tuna Foundation also pointed to new guidelines recommending that
all Americans -- especially pregnant and nursing women and children -- eat
seafood twice a week, despite the current concern about pollution
contamination. These guidelines summarize scientific findings presented at a
conference recently held in Washington, D.C, reiterating that seafood helps
people live longer and healthier lives, and cuts the risk for heart disease,
cancer, Alzheimers, stroke, diabetes, and inflammatory diseases such as
rheumatoid arthritis. Nutrients such as omega-3 fatty acids, iodine, iron and
chorine present in fish such as wild and farmed salmon, shrimp, pollock, cod,
canned light tuna and catfish, are important in brain development and may
lessen the effects of dyslexia, autism, hyperactivity and attention deficit
disorder, researchers have found, and some studies have linked those nutrients
with increased intelligence in infants and young children.
More information about canned tuna and its health benefits is available at
the USTF Web site, http://www.tunafacts.com.
Established in 1976, the U.S. Tuna Foundation (USTF) is the national
organization representing the canned tuna processors and the fishermen who
supply them and addresses issues ranging from fishing access arrangements to
federal and state regulations and domestic marketing.
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