Nutrition & Foodservice Edge Magazine - March/April 2023 - 41

HOW WORRIED SHOULD YOU BE ABOUT
tuna?
INEXPENSIVE, CONVENIENT, and
full of protein and essential omega-3
fatty acids, canned tuna is a staple in
kitchen cabinets, delis, and lunchboxes
across the country. About one-third of
Americans eat it two or more times a
month, according to a November 2022
nationally representative Consumer
Reports (CR) survey of 2,185 U.S.
adults, and about 10 percent eat it at
least once a week.
But tuna, like many other types of fish,
often contains mercury, which can
be toxic to adults and is of particular
concern to children, infants, and
especially pregnant people.
Consumer Reports tested five popular
brands of canned tuna for mercury,
and two varieties from each brand:
albacore and light/skipjack. Tests
found a wide range of mercury levels
between types and brands. Results
indicate the albacore cans had three
times more mercury, on average,
than light/skipjack-regardless of the
brand.
MERCURY IN YOUR
Though mercury levels in light tuna
tend to be low on average, CR's data
shows that there can be unpredictable
spikes of toxin in individual cans.
Mercury is a known neurotoxin. Too
much of it is harmful to children,
whose bodies and brains are still
growing. In high amounts, it can even
be harmful to adults, causing problems
with fine motor coordination, speech,
sleep, and walking, and prickly
sensations.
" It's of particular concern for pregnant
people, because the developing
brains and nervous systems of their
babies are particularly vulnerable
to mercury, " says James E. Rogers,
director of Food Safety Research and
Testing at CR.
Mercury is found throughout the
ocean, and is present to some degree in
every kind of fish you could consume.
It's both an element found naturally in
the environment, and a byproduct of
manmade pollution. A rule of thumb
is that bigger fish tend to have higher
mercury levels than smaller ones.
In 2017, the Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) issued stricter
guidelines about which fish are
recommended if you are or could
become pregnant. Under the FDA
guidelines, those vulnerable groups
could eat up to 12 ounces (three
servings) of light tuna or 4 ounces
(1 serving) of albacore per week,
assuming they ate no other fish. (4
ounces is the amount in a typical
5-ounce can of tuna; the remaining
ounce is water or oil.)
CR says that's a step in the right
direction but it doesn't go far enough,
and the variation between cans makes
it too risky for those who are pregnant.
The good news is Consumer Reports
found several choices for adults
and children who eat canned tuna,
even those who eat it often. That's
important, since eating fish can be
good for your heart and brain, and
most people don't eat enough of it. E
Source: Lisa Chow, Consumer Reports. Read the full report at cr.org
NUTRITION & FOODSERVICE EDGE | MARCH-APRIL 2023 41
http://www.cr.org
Nutrition & Foodservice Edge Magazine - March/April 2023

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