Facts: Sins of Omission



Sins of Ommission: What Lawrence Goodman Didn't Want You to Know About Canned Tuna

FACT: Within the last 9 months alone, three landmark research studies have been released that demonstrate the importance of eating fish like canned tuna. These studies were carried out by prestigious scientists with impeccable reputations, scrutinized by careful peer review and published in leading professional journals, including The Lancet and the Journal of the American Medical Association.

  • The October 2006 Institute of Medicine's "Seafood Choices: Balancing the Benefits and Risks" was written by an independent expert panel of 14 scientists to examine the relationship between the benefits and risks associated with seafood. This report was drafted with the sole purpose of helping consumers make informed choices. The report contained a number of findings that illustrate seafood's importance to a healthy diet, including:
    • Americans should eat more seafood.
    • The benefits of eating seafood outweigh any risk.
    • Validates FDA/EPA guidelines, which state that seafood is recommended as part of a healthy diet — including the diets of pregnant and nursing women and young children. The guidelines recommend that pregnant and nursing women and young children eat up to 12 ounces per week of low-mercury fish like canned light tuna.
    • Seafood has proven health benefits.
    • Consumers need better, more consistent advice about seafood recommendations.
  • The October 2006 Harvard study "Fish Intake, Contaminants, and Human Health: Evaluating the Risks and the Benefits," published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, consisted of a review of over 200 studies and confirmed:
    • Fish consumption is especially important in lowering Americans' risk of developing heart disease.
    • Fish consumption is an important part of a healthy diet for all Americans, including women who are or may become pregnant, nursing mothers and young children.
    • A diet rich in fish that are high in omega-3 fatty acids, like canned tuna, can curb or prevent cognitive decline, dementia, depression, neuropsychiatric disorders, asthma and inflammatory disorders.
    • The benefits of eating fish outweigh any possible risks caused by possible contaminants.
  • The February 2007 study by Joseph Hibbeln, published in the prestigious British medical journal The Lancet, concluded that seafood consumption is an integral part of a healthy diet — before, during and after pregnancy:
    • Children of mothers who ate seafood during pregnancy exhibited stronger motor, communication and social skills than children of mothers who ate little or no seafood.
    • Children of mothers who ate less than 12 ounces of seafood per week were more likely to exhibit stunted growth, slow information processing, or poor motor skills than those whose mothers ate more than the amounts recommended by the federal government.
    • The FDA's intent to limit fetal exposure to trace amounts of neurotoxins could result in pregnant women ingesting inadequate amounts of omega-3 fatty acids for fetal neurodevelopment.
FACT: Goodman is flat out wrong when he uses a quote by Dr. Jane Hightower to assert that "most independent studies have found that mercury has harmful effects." There are no known cases of adverse health effects among women or their babies from eating canned tuna or any other type of seafood. There is, however, a mountain of scientific research that shows that mothers who eat fish — including canned tuna — during pregnancy have brainier babies.
  • As Joseph Hibbeln noted in his study, "Maternal Seafood Consumption in Pregnancy and Neurodevelopmental Outcomes in Childhood," seafood is an excellent source of omega-3 fatty acids, which are crucial for the healthy development of an unborn baby. Researchers of that study concluded that there is absolutely no evidence supporting advice that pregnant women should limit their intake of seafood, like canned tuna, to 12 ounces per week. On the contrary, the study showed that children of mothers who ate less than 12 ounces of seafood per week were more likely to exhibit stunted growth, slow information processing or poor motor skills than those whose mothers ate more than the recommended amounts.
  • A 2004 U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) study found that mercury levels in young children and women of childbearing age are usually below levels of concern. The CDC has not found definitive proof of the harm to a fetus from levels of mercury at the FDA's reference dose. (1999-2001 CDC National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) study, updated November 2004).
  • The American Heart Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics found that canned tuna is safe for children two and older and that children should eat two servings of fish a week (Pediatrics, February 7, 2006).
  • The October 2006 Harvard study said that not eating enough fish is the real health risk for everyone and that the many health benefits associated with seafood rich in omega-3 fatty acids, like canned tuna, far outweigh the potential risk from trace levels of mercury in fish.
FACT: U.S. federal safety limits on mercury are much more stringent than those of the World Health Organization (U.S. limits are 15 times lower than WHO recommendations). FDA guidelines are based on an estimated reference dose — a level of mercury below which there is no perceived risk to consumers. At 0.12 ppm, canned light tuna tests eight times lower than the FDA limit, and at 0.37 parts per million, canned albacore tuna is two-thirds lower than the FDA-considered safe level of 1.00 ppm.
  • Additionally, CDC reports found few women of childbearing age with mercury levels at or above the reference dose (1999-2001 CDC NHANES study, updated November 2004; and FDA/EPA guidelines, March 2004)
  • Representatives from industry, consumer groups, environmental groups (including Environmental Working Group, Ocean Conservancy, Sierra Club and the Mercury Policy Project) and Native American tribes joined federal, state and health officials in the process.
  • All meetings were public — no one entity or interest had the ability of influencing deliberations.
  • In May of 2006, the FDA/EPA guidelines were reaffirmed when the Supreme Court of the state of California ruled that canned tuna does not require food safety warnings.
FACT: Goodman incorrectly criticizes the FDA for not molding its guidelines on canned light tuna consumption after the advisory adopted by the state of Wisconsin, which he calls "one of the strictest in the nation." In fact, the federal and state consumption guidelines are exactly the same!
  • Goodman recounts the Wisconsin state advisory as recommending that women who are or plan to become pregnant, are nursing and children under the age of 15 eat "no more than one six-ounce can of light tuna per week."
  • In actuality, the Wisconsin state advisory recommends that women who are or plan to become pregnant, are nursing and children under the age of 15 eat 2 meals per week of canned light tuna and that women beyond child-bearing age and men are unlimited in the amount of low-mercury fish they can consume.
  • Compare that to the FDA guidelines, which advise women who are pregnant, planning to become pregnant or nursing and young children to eat up to 12 ounces (2 average meals) a week of a variety of fish and shellfish that are lower in mercury, which includes canned light tuna.

FACT: Goodman quotes Deborah Rice, Ph.D., a former senior toxicologist at the EPA as an "expert" who says that the FDA has been ignoring scientists' advice and watering down its rules for decades. But did you know that during the case on California's Proposition 65 law, which was settled in May of last year, Judge Robert Dondero, discredited the testimony of Dr. Rice as "biased" and "unreliable?" Judge Dondero said that Dr. Rice's claim that a single exposure to methylmercury can cause adverse effects in humans was — at best — "misleading."

FACT: Toxicologist Vas Aposhian, Ph.D., who Goodman calls upon for his study of 11 cans of tuna for mercury, does not reflect the same comprehensive sampling used by the FDA. The FDA tested more than 10,000 cans to Aposhian's 11 before developing its advisory on canned tuna.

The "independent studies" named by Goodman are not independent at all — many of them are funded by environmental groups like Defenders of Wildlife, Environmental Working Group, Mercury Policy Group and Oceana — a group that works closely with Dr. Hightower and frequently uses her as a spokesperson. These groups have singled out canned tuna, not out of concern for the public's health, but in an attempt to bring attention to their own environmental agendas, which have little or nothing to do with the health benefits of tuna.

FACT: Goodman attempts to gloss over the important findings of the 2006 IOM report when he quotes "the available evidence to assess risks to the U.S. population [from mercury and other pollutants] is incomplete."

The committee of experts who led the charge to review evidence on the benefits and risks associated with seafood consumption found that, without a doubt, seafood like canned tuna is a good source of high-quality protein, is low in saturated fat, and rich in many vitamins, minerals and omega-3 fatty acids.

As is true for all dietary decisions, moderation is the key. In its report, the IOM states that:
  • The benefit to the general population from eating seafood is reduced risk of heart disease.
  • Infants whose mothers consumed omega-3 fatty acids, which are found in fish and seafood, during pregnancy may gain benefits such as longer gestation and better vision and brain development.
  • The amount of a given contaminant in seafood depends on the type, size, geographic source, age and diet of the fish.
  • Given consumer differences, effective guidance on seafood choices must take into account that "one size does not fit all." Americans should refer to the FDA/EPA guidelines and consult their family physician for advice on fish consumption.