Consumers generally include canned tuna in a balanced diet as an affordable, healthy alternative to beef, but many are unaware that tuna can also poison a balanced diet.
Nutritional guidelines limit tuna intake for pregnant women, but without sufficient warning to the general public, tuna remains the third most popular grocery store item under sugar and coffee, according to U.S. News & World Report.
Canned albacore, or "white" tuna, may have higher-than-expected levels of toxic metal mercury (methyl mercury), according to a study by the public interest group Mercury Policy Project. Even though canned tuna is known to contain methyl mercury, it isn't listed by the Food and Drug Administration in its current consumer advisory.
Symptoms associated with low-level mercury poisoning include hair loss, fatigue, depression, difficulty concentrating and headaches, according to FDA toxicologist Mike Bolger.
The FDA and the EPA, however, fail to agree on acceptable levels of mercury: The EPA states that it is only safe to eat one-fifth of the amount of tuna that the FDA considers safe.
Stephen King, a public affairs specialist for the FDA, said the FDA statement on tuna is that it is "generally safe."
The FDA report states that they only test around a dozen cans of albacore tuna for mercury each year. Independent Consumer groups' recent testing for the Mercury Policy Project, however, indicated that up to 22 million cans of tuna could have mercury levels above the FDA's action level, or one of every twenty cans of albacore tuna. According to the FDA's own guidelines, these untested cans of tuna would be taken off the market said Michael Bender, director of the project.
According to King, the FDA said it does not want to scare consumers away from an affordable food with widely acknowledged health benefits. Ten states have issued their own advisories on mercury levels in the absence of a firm warning by the FDA, but Virginia has yet to regulate tuna, according to Michelle Stoll at the Virginia State Health Department.
Washington State's Department of Health advises "the amount of canned tuna that is safe to eat each week should be based on a person's body weight," (USA Today, 2002). In Washington's publication, "Fish Facts for Good Health," they specify that "albacore, chunk, and chunk light varieties are safer than solid white or chunk white types." The guidelines based on weight recommend six ounces (one can) a week for a person weighing 125 pounds.
"Anyone consuming large amounts of fish is at risk for over-consuming mercury," Bolger said. "The health danger is especially severe since methyl mercury is hard for the body to eliminate, causing it to build up and consequently affect the nervous system."
Read More
U.Va. students and physicians team up for another year of free kidney screenings
By Merrill Hart | November 5, 2024Saturday’s screening marked the first by KDSAP at Portico Church, near IX Art Park.
U.Va. Health sees a spike in COVID-19 cases
By Emily Horn | September 4, 2023U.Va. Health ended their vaccination requirements in August, and masks were made optional in most hospital areas in early April.
U.Va. Cancer Center harnesses $12 million grant to support opportunities for undergraduates, ongoing research and new center
By Ellen Wu | January 12, 2023The grant provides an opportunity to establish the Center for Systems Analysis of Stress-Adapted Cancer Organelles, which seeks to find the cause of cancer in individual organelles.
