Mercury Rising in Tuna, But Will Concern Last?

Image source: New York Times

Marian Burros of the Times had a revealing piece today on tuna sushi, showing that restaurant and store samples had so much mercury that six pieces a week would be deemed a health risk by the EPA.

The story ranked as the most emailed item on the Times' web site, evidence of just how much health concerns prompt reaction from readers and eaters.

The question, though, is whether this concern will last.

When stories came out on the risk of PCBs in farmed salmon, sales dipped by about 20 percent for about six months. But Tim Fitzgerald, a scientist in the Oceans Program at Environmental Defense, told me in a phone call this morning that sales rebounded and "now they're higher than ever."

This parallels food scares in general. An immediate high-profile story will lead to a change in habits, but then memories will fade and habits return -- that is, if there are habits to return to. To gradually change consumer tastes over the long-term is more difficult, but doable, and takes work on the chef side. For if restaurants don't serve it, diners won't eat it.

In the case of tuna, Burros quoted a restaurateur and retailer who expressed surprise at the findings. (Reminds me of that line from Casablanca, "I'm shocked, shocked to find that gambling is going on in here!") If you are in the seafood business, you'd have to be deaf, dumb and blind to ignore the mercury warnings on tuna, especially in larger species like bluefin where mercury are known to accumulate.

I was also surprised that so many of the restaurants were actually serving bluefin tuna, a species that is so close to collapse (that is, disappearance) that eating it is akin to dining on an endangered species. There have been gobs of articles on the plight of the bluefin for years, and this illuminating piece from 60 Minutes this past weekend that is worth watching if you haven't seen it. But since this warning has clearly not yet struck a chord, chefs continue to turn a blind eye and serve the fish up. (Not to oversimplify, since some chefs and groups such as Chefs Collaborative do emphasize sustainable fish).

Now, I imagine, this series will alter menus, at least initially. Fearful of mercury poisoning, eaters will shy away from tuna and restaurants will have to avoid bluefin, unless they want to put warning signs on their menus. The upshot: maybe bluefin will now have a chance at rebounding, if restaurants switch to other more sustainable and lower toxicity species, such as yellow fin tuna.

But if chefs don't respond, diners will continue to get doses of mercury until the big tuna run out.

To see how restaurants and supermarkets fared in the actual tests, check out the Times' nifty graphic.

- Samuel Fromartz

Comments

[Nick Hall - Blue Ocean Institute]

Why do we eat endangered species....and contaminated ones at that?

The Atlantic Bluefin Tuna is an endangered species according to the IUCN – the leading authority on threatened species. Yet we serve it in restaurants across the United States, Europe and Japan!

Wildlife biologists, politicians and members of the public have spent the best part of a century working all over the world to protect endangered species from going extinct. They have saved some and they have lost some but they never ate them.

Would you eat an endangered species?

Part of the solution to this problem - a problem that not only affects our health but also the future existence of Atlantic Bluefin Tuna - is to empower seafood lovers.

Mr. Fromartz notes:
"To gradually change consumer tastes over the long-term is more difficult, but doable, and takes work on the chef side. For if restaurants don't serve it, diners won't eat it."

In addition to relying on chefs and restaurateurs to shield us from eating unhealthy and unsustainable seafood we can also empower ourselves. Blue Ocean Institute (www.blueocean.org) provides a convenient text messaging service and wallet-sized guides to answer those troubling seafood questions.

Check out: http://www.chewswise.com/chews/ for more information.

Blue Ocean Institute
Fresh inspiration for ocean conservation.
http://www.blueocean.org

[Katie]

Thanks for your post on the New York Time’s local story about mercury in sushi. Oceana, an international marine conservation organization, published an even more extensive national study on mercury levels in fresh tuna, swordfish and tilapia from supermarkets, and tuna and mackerel from sushi restaurants. The good news is that mackerel and tilapia are low-mercury fish and can be eaten safely. The bad news is that swordfish and fresh tuna have high levels of mercury and consumers should be leery.

The Food and Drug Administration has recommended that women of childbearing age and children completely avoid eating swordfish and limit consumption of fresh tuna to six ounces or less a week. Even if people are familiar with this advice concerning mercury, they probably don’t readily carry it while dining out or shopping for their weekly groceries. Additionally, Oceana’s study found that 87 percent of seafood counter attendants couldn’t provide shoppers with the FDA warning, so you shouldn’t rely on them to give you the government advice either.

Posting signs in grocery stores would provide this crucial information in a way that is accessible and easily understood. Major grocery companies like Kroger, Safeway and Albertsons are posting the FDA advice at their seafood counters. Still other grocers, like Costco, Publix and A&P, refuse to post a sign and give this important information to their customers. There is no reason to cut seafood totally out of your diet, but it is important to know what kinds of fish are potentially harmful and how to avoid them. Check out Oceana’s new report and get the full story at http://www.oceana.org/mercury.

[Lauren Guite]

Thanks for this important post! I just wanted to add that Environmental Defense has done all the research you'll need to make fish choices that are good for you and the ocean. We took into account fishing and farming methods as well as mercury and PCB advisories from the EPA. You can find our seafood selector at http://EnvironmentalDefense.org/Seafood.

Don't forget to print out the handy pocket version so you'll always be ready to make eco-friendly fish choices!

Lauren Guite
Environmental Defense