This is no “shell” game
By Herb Drill
Since our daughter just delivered a beautiful baby girl, an item from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration caught my eye. The next time you dine at the wonderful Clark’s Fish Camp or shop for tuna, catfish, shrimp, or oysters, you might remember this headline: “What You Need to Know About Mercury in Fish and Shellfish.” The secondary headline (we newspaper folk call it “subhed”) read: “Women Who Might Become Pregnant, Women Who are Pregnant, Nursing Mothers, [and] Young Children.”
We all know fish and shellfish (unless you’re allergic!) are tasty and required for a healthy diet. These inhabitants of the seas contain high-quality protein and other essential nutrients and are relatively low in saturated fat. A well-balanced diet containing a variety of fish and shellfish can contribute to heart health and children's proper growth and development.
I was pretty upset when the Roadhouse Grill on Old St. Augustine Road near Kori Road hooked catfish from the menu. What kind of Southern hospitality is that, I ask you?
The point is this: the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) advise women and young children in particular should chow-down on fish or shellfish for their the many nutritional benefits. Just check out the seafood place on the west side of San Jose near Loretto or Publix, or Winn-Dixie, or wherever you shop.
Still, FDA and EPA caution that “nearly all fish and shellfish contain traces of mercury. For most people, the risk from mercury by eating fish and shellfish isn’t a health concern. Yet, some fish and shellfish contain higher levels of mercury that may harm an unborn baby or young child's developing nervous system. The risks from mercury in fish and shellfish depend on the amount of fish and shellfish eaten and the levels of mercury in the fish and shellfish.”
Ergo, FDA and EPA are advising women who may become pregnant, pregnant women, nursing mothers, and young children to ‘avoid some types of fish and eat fish and shellfish that are lower in mercury.” They provided three recommendations for selecting and eating fish or shellfish, whereby women and young children would get the benefits of eating fish and shellfish and be “confident they reduce their exposure to the harmful effects of mercury.”
The three recommendations are:
· Don’t eat shark, swordfish, King Mackerel, or tilefish because they contain high levels of mercury.
Eat up to 12 ounces (two average meals) a week of a variety of fish and shellfish that are lower in mercury. Five most commonly eaten fish that are low in mercury are shrimp, canned light tuna, salmon, pollock, and catfish. Albacore ("white") tuna has more mercury than canned light tuna; so, when choosing your two meals of fish and shellfish, you may eat up to six ounces (one average meal) of albacore tuna per week.
· Check local advisories about the safety of fish caught by family and friends in your local lakes, rivers, and coastal areas. If no advice is available, eat up to six ounces (one average meal) per week of fish you catch from local waters, but don't consume any other fish during that week.
FDA and EPA urge us to follow these same recommendations when feeding fish and shellfish to your young child, but serve smaller portions.
For more information about the safety of locally caught fish and shellfish (vis-à-vis `gator, y’all), visit the EPA's Fish Advisory website at www.epa.gov/ost/fish. Also, you can call the Florida Dept. of Health. A list of state or local health departments is available at www.epa.gov/ost/fish. For data on EPA's actions to control mercury, visit EPA's mercury Web site at www.epa.gov/mercury.
Our kids had an aversion to fish after an unpleasant encounter with Mahi-Mahi – but Barb won’t let me tell you about that – and it had nothing to do with mercury.
Herb Drill is the principal of Able Me & Associates!, Mandarin-based marketing consultants to the overlooked disabled community.