New advice on safe fishy feasts
All Australians have been advised to limit the amount of mercury-containing fish they eat, not just pregnant women or those who are thinking about having a child.
The government agency Food Standards Australia New Zealand (FSANZ) today released its updated advice on safe levels of mercury in fish. The advice has extended advice originally aimed at pregnant women and women considering pregnancy to children and the general population for the first time.
But people shouldn't get the message they should stop eating fish, Lydia Buchtmann of FSANZ told ABC Science Online.
Fish is an excellent source of protein, 'good' fats, omega-3 oils and iodine, she said. And while a handful of people eat a lot of fish, she said most people didn't meet National Health and Medical Research Council recommendations to eat one to two fish meals a week.
The new advice, which was last updated three years ago, is the result of a regular FSANZ review. It provides a new list of fish that are high in mercury and further restricts the amount of fish that can be safely eaten.
FSANZ advises people to have two to three serves per week of most fish and seafood. But it advises people to particularly restrict how much shark (flake), swordfish (broadbill) and marlin they eat. These are long-living predatory fish that accumulate mercury in the form of methyl mercury.
Pregnant women, women planning pregnancy and children up to six years old are also advised to restrict consumption of orange roughy (sea perch) and catfish. Nursing mothers are advised that if they want to be cautious they should also follow the advice for pregnant women. Full details are on the FSANZ website.
Fish previously classed as high in mercury but now off the high-mercury list are ray, gemfish, ling and southern blue fin tuna.
If pregnant women eat too much mercury this can affect the development of their unborn child. Adults and children who eat too much mercury may have numb or tingling fingers, lips and toes.
The FSANZ advice draws on testing of mercury levels in fish by the South Australian Research and Development Institute, the Australian Bureau of Statistics' National Nutritional Survey, and other scientific studies that link mercury consumption with health effects.
FSANZ's dietary modelling takes into account groups that consume high levels of fish, Buchtmann said.