Action Group Tests Mercury In Tuna In 22 USA Statesff

Safeway and Albertsons have joined Wild Oats Natural Food stores in providing information about mercury in fish at seafood counters nationwide, according to recent press reports. Environmental groups are applauding these efforts, but are asking why other national supermarkets, including Whole Foods Market, have not posted similar warnings.

“When you link on to Whole Foods Market website, they provide information about mercury in fish, the FDA advisory, and the list of fish that pregnant women should limit consumption of or not eat at all," said Michael Bender, Director of the Mercury Policy Project. "So why aren't they willing to inform customers directly at their stores?”

Last month, a coalition of environmental groups led by the Mercury Policy Project released the results of a major, 22-state mercury testing project, confirming that store-bought swordfish and tuna contain levels of mercury that the federal government has determined may be hazardous to human health, particularly children.

Mercury concentrations in fish tested from Whole Foods Market were among the highest. Swordfish tested from a Whole Foods stores in Providence, RI came in at 2.143 parts per million mercury-twice the FDA's action level of 1 ppm. Similarly, a swordfish sample from a St. Paul, MN Whole Foods had a mercury concentration of 1.633 ppm.

Samples of tuna from Whole Foods Markets were also tested among the highest for mercury. A Washington, D.C. Whole Foods store sample of tuna came in at 0.603 ppm mercury, whereas an Anne Arundel County, MD tuna sample from the Whole Foods store in that location had a mercury concentration of 0.591 ppm.

”Pregnant women and parents of young children need point-of- sale warnings to make informed choices about the fish they purchase,” said Bender.

”Based on our test results, a 44-pound child eating six ounces of tuna weekly from the Washington, DC Whole Foods Market would be four times over the EPA’s reference dose, and a 120-pound woman eating just six ounces of tuna weekly from the Anne Arundel County, Md. Whole Foods store would be eating one and one-half times EPA's reference dose.” The EPA reference dose is an estimation of the amount of methylmercury that, if consumed, would not be expected to cause an appreciable risk of adverse health effects over a lifetime.

The results released in Fair Warning: Why Grocery Stores Should Tell Parents About Mercury in Fish were more comprehensive than any recently released by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and included samples purchased at popular supermarket chains such as Safeway, Shaw's, Albertsons and Whole Foods. Swordfish and tuna samples bought in grocery stores in 22 states were tested at the University of North Carolina's Environmental Quality Institute between July 7 and August 11.

An average mercury concentration of 1.1 parts per million (ppm) was found in the 24 swordfish samples tested. That level exceeds the FDA Action Level of 1.0 ppm for commercial fish, which is the amount at which the agency can take legal action to remove a product from the market. Mercury concentrations in 31 samples of fresh or frozen tuna steaks averaged 0.33 ppm, a level comparable to that of canned albacore tuna, a fish specifically targeted for limited consumption by women of childbearing age and children in the 2004 joint advisory from the FDA and the Environmental Protection Agency. The second page of the same advisory has similar consumption advice for tuna steaks.

Source: Mercury Policy Project Press Release