June 1, 2023 — Out of 186 samples recently tested by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) were discovered in two cod samples, two shrimp samples, one sample of tilapia, and one sample of salmon.
PFAS – so-called “forever chemicals” that don’t degrade and that are known to cause a variety of health issues if ingested – have become an increasingly concerning issue for seafood purveyors.
Read the full article at SeafoodSource
May 23, 2023 — New food-labeling draft guidance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) aiming to further clarify the nutritional value of food products to consumers is coming into effect in 2024.
The draft guidance provides food manufacturers with recommendations on how and when to use dietary guidance statements on food product labels “to ensure the label statements promote good nutrition, provide greater consistency in labeling, and assist consumers in making informed choices,” the FDA said in a press release.
February 9, 2023 — The following was released by the National Fisheries Institute:
When we challenged reporter, Lauren Kirchner and her team at Consumer Reports, to release all their mercury-in-canned-tuna testing data and put it in perspective with the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) “action level” and “level of concern,” we thought it was a pretty simple request. Apparently, it wasn’t because rather than a full clarification of the facts we got… nothing but crickets.
So, in order to help folks understand exactly what Consumer Reports found we were able to piece together the raw data from 19 of the 30 tests conducted as part of its How Worried Should You Be About Mercury in Your Tuna? article. The results are below and speak for themselves.
February 9, 2023 — The National Fisheries Institute (NFI) is calling on Consumer Reports to disclose the full details of its research into allegations of mercury contamination in canned tuna.
The article by Consumer Reports, “How Worried Should You Be About Mercury in Your Tuna?” is the latest in a string of similar stories the publication has released dating back to 2014. The new story warns pregnant women to avoid canned tuna altogether due to some cans potentially having “higher levels” of mercury.
February 8, 2023 — The following was released by the National Fisheries Institute:
NFI has learned that Consumer Reports magazine is preparing to release a “story” that documents its efforts to test mercury in canned tuna. A story the outlet has repeatedly produced over the years:
Dating all the way back to 2014, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) blasted the magazine saying its report, “focus(ed) exclusively on the mercury levels in fish without considering the known positive nutritional benefits attributed to fish. As a result, the methodology employed by Consumer Reports overestimates the negative effects and overlooks the strong body of scientific evidence published in the last decade.”
Despite that admonishment, they’re at it again — taking precious time away from rating vacuum cleaners and air fryers to play an unqualified role in making public health recommendations.
However, here’s the real part of the narrative that will not surprise you. NFI found out Consumer Reports was testing cans of tuna in early January, and we reached out to them to be a resource. Not surprisingly, they didn’t sound thrilled to hear from us.
From the findings, we were privy to, we noted to Consumer Reports that the mercury levels they apparently found do not raise consumption concerns. Additionally, to suggest precautions to consumers based on those results would be hyperbolic and borders on embarrassing, tabloid journalism.
We pointed out that in the sample of results we saw, it appeared the highest level of mercury found in a “light” can was .58 ppm and the highest level of mercury found in an “albacore” can was .66 ppm. The FDA’s action level, or the limit for mercury in fish is 1.0ppm. Neither of these levels begin to even approach this limit and are completely safe to consume.
However, more importantly, we explained to Consumer Reports that to be totally accurate they would need to put these numbers in complete context with the FDA’s own explanation of the 1.0ppm “action level” and then explain the fact that the FDA’s 1.0ppm level includes a 10-fold safety factor:
“FDA’s action level of 1.0 ppm for methyl mercury in fish was established to limit consumers’ methyl mercury exposure to levels ten times lower than the lowest levels associated with adverse effects.”
— Food and Drug Administration
Cans that include tuna with mercury levels of .58ppm or .66ppm are nowhere near the absolute lowest levels FDA itself associates with “adverse effects.” Any reporting by Consumer Reports that suggests otherwise and does not include a thorough explanation of the FDA’s safety factor would be disingenuous at best and or deceptive at worse.
The report is scheduled to come out tomorrow Thursday, February 9th. Keep in mind, at that point Consumer Reports will have been fully aware of the FDA’s testing metric and threshold for concern for nearly a month. Deceiving readers by omitting accurate and scientific FDA perspective in search of sensational headlines is more than an embarrassing failure of journalistic ethics it is, simply put, wrong.
November 25, 2022 — AquaBounty’s genetically engineered AquAdvantage salmon is once again going through a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) environmental assessment (EA) after a lawsuit by multiple organizations led to a court order for additional analysis.
The FDA granted permission for the salmon to be sold in the U.S. in 2015, but a judge ruled in 2020 the agency needed to perform additional review of the salmon to evaluate the chances it could be introduced into the wild and its subsequent danger to wild salmon populations. A judge in San Francisco ruled the FDA did not do its due diligence when considering the possibility of environmental consequences with its approval of the salmon.
October 20, 2022 — Seafood is more nutritious than terrestrial animal protein and has a lower carbon footprint, according to a study published in September 2022 in the research journal Communications Earth and Environment.
The study, a collaboration between the RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, Dalhousie University’s School for Resource and Environmental Studies, and the Aquaculture Stewardship Council, provides suggestions for maximizing the nutritional value of seafood consumed around the globe and reducing the industry’s greenhouse gas through concentration on specific species and production methods.
October 7, 2022 — The world’s human population is expected to surpass 10 billion by 2050. How to feed that many people, especially as the effects of global warming continue to worsen, was the subject of a 5 October panel at the Global Seafood Alliance’s 2022 GOAL conference in Seattle, Washington, U.S.A.
University of Washington Professor of Fisheries Science Ray Hilborn, University of Stirling Aquaculture Professor Richard Newton, Environmental Defense Fund Senior Manager of Climate Resilient Food Systems Willow Battista, and Wittaya Aqua CEO Evan Hall reviewed statistical evidence linking changes in climage to global output of fishing and aquaculture production and debated the industry’s impact on the environment.
September 30, 2022 — The U.S. Food and Drug Administration proposed new criteria for “healthy” labels on packaging, which industry insiders expect will increase seafood consumption.
The FDA’s proposed rule would align the definition of the “healthy” claim with current nutrition science, the updated Nutrition Facts label and the current Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
September 28, 2022 — The following was released by National Fisheries Institute:
We applaud the White House for hosting today’s conference on ending hunger an
Low seafood intake is responsible for about 84,000 American lives lost to heart disease each year, which makes seafood deficiency the second-biggest dietary contributor to preventable deaths in the U.S. The 2020-2025Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) encourage Americans to eat 2-3 servings of seafood each week starting at age six months and continuing throughout life. However, an alarming 94% of children and 80% of adults currently do not eat the recommended amount of seafood. This means most Americans are missing out on important health benefits – from improved baby brain development to reduced risk of heart disease to bone and muscle strength in older age – that seafood offers.
One proposed strategy to increase consumption of healthful foods, including fish, is making sure that foods labeled as “healthy” align with current nutrition science and the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. To complement the actions outlined in the strategy document, the National Fisheries Institute and its members publicly commit toprov
We are pleased to see the White House taking the lead in promoting the role nutritious food plays in combatingdiet-related diseases, disabilities, and deaths. Today’s conference was a good first step and one that we hope will lead to demonstrable public health benefits.