U.S. to Urge Some Limits on Eating Tuna

The federal government plans to warn pregnant women, nursing mothers and even those thinking of getting pregnant to limit their consumption of tuna as part of a broader advisory concerning the dangers of eating fish and shellfish with elevated levels of harmful mercury.

A draft advisory by the Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency cautions women of childbearing age as well as young children to limit their intake of tuna and other fish and shellfish to 12 ounces a week, the equivalent of two to three modest meals. Among seafoods, tuna ranks second only to shrimp in popularity in the United States.

The government is also advising consumers to mix up the types of fish they eat and not to eat any one kind of fish or shellfish more than once a week. The FDA had previously warned pregnant women against eating shark, swordfish, king mackerel and tilefish because they contained unusually high levels of mercury, but until now the agency hadn’t directly addressed concerns about tuna.

The advisory notes that mercury levels in tuna vary, and that tuna steaks and canned albacore tuna generally contain higher levels of mercury than canned light tuna.

David Acheson, the FDA’s medical officer in charge of the issue, said in an interview that it is implicit in the draft document that women at risk should eat no more than four to six ounces of tuna once a week.

David Burney, executive director of the San Diego-based U.S. Tuna Foundation, said the industry agreed that there was a need to expand the government advisory to include tuna, but that manufacturers worried that environmental and consumer groups would exploit fears to unnecessarily harm the industry.

The proposed new guidelines began circulating Wednesday at a meeting in Washington of the FDA’s food advisory panel and likely will be formally promulgated early next year, according to FDA officials.

The advisory represents the government’s response to mounting public concern about the dangers of mercury pollution in tuna and other popular fish and shellfish.