June 7, 2023 — National Fisheries Institute’s (NFI) recently released top 10 list of seafood consumption in 2021 indicates Americans consumed a record 20.5 pounds of seafood per capita – a 1.5 pound increase over 2020.
The increase followed a slight decrease in consumption in 2020, when Americans consumed 19 pounds of seafood – down slightly from the 19.3-pound average tallied in 2019. Both 2020 and 2021 were heavily influenced by the residual impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
March 22, 2023 — The following was released by the National Fisheries Institute:
The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) newly released report, “Activities for the Safety of Imported Seafood,” illustrates a continued commitment to seafood safety. The report outlines a comprehensive approach that takes advantage of “smarter, more efficient technologies and processes” to enhance an already effective system.
FDA’s work doesn’t simply rely on optimized inspections, it strengthens surveillance, improves predictive analytics, and even includes a pilot program using artificial intelligence. In fact, the bulk of the agency’s work is focused on prevention. Imported seafood is required to meet the same safety standards as seafood produced in this country and this work demonstrates how that is achieved.
This report shows FDA understands food safety needs are ever evolving and its work to meet those challenges is too.
Lisa Wallenda Picard
President & CEO
March 15, 2023 — The following was released by the National Fisheries Institute:
Dr. Abdul Ghofar was an accomplished fisheries biologist whose contribution to global Blue Swimming Crab work was renowned. He was a tireless advocate for science and sustainability, but he was far more than that for the NFI Crab Council. He was our advisor, our guide, and he was our friend.
Dr. Ghofar had a gentle way, a kind heart, and a commitment to do the right thing. His thirst for knowledge drove him as a scientist and as an author, but his insistence on finding ways to apply research to real-world applications made him stand out. His vision and practicality combined to form an ideal envoy who, for nearly a decade, coordinated effortlessly between industry-led initiatives, scientific research, and crab harvesting communities.
Aside from his impactful work and clear fisheries legacy, Dr. Abdul Ghofar was quietly generous in ways many will never know. The NFI Crab Council salutes not only his work but his spirit.
February 24, 2023 — The following was released by the National Fisheries Institute:
The Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) newly issued draft guidance to help ensure appropriate labeling of plant-based beverages, marketed as milk alternatives, is a solid step in the right direction for regulators and consumers. Highly processed, plant-based products masquerading as seafood for too long have contributed to consumer confusion and openly flouted existing regulations. Guidance for these products should mirror those now under consideration for “milk” products.
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.
January 19, 2023 — A “changing of the guard” is coming where younger consumers begin to change the grocery landscape, according to IRI Senior Vice President for Protein Practice Chris Dubois.
Speaking during the opening plenary of the National Fisheries Institute’s Global Seafood Market Conference – running from 15 to 19 January in Palm Springs, California, U.S.A. – Dubois predicted the grocery store landscape is going to shift dramatically as younger consumers get older and become the dominant buying bloc in the U.S.
January 18, 2023 — Widespread droughts in 2022 resulted in a looming shortage to the beef supply, and could leave billions of consumer dollars looking for a different protein to purchase.
Speaking during the National Fisheries Institute’s Global Seafood Market Conference (GSMC), running from 15 to 19 January in Palm Springs, California, U.S.A., Performance Food Group President of Protein Brands Steve Sands showcased how beef has heavily outperformed all other proteins. According to USDA data, U.S. consumers expenditures for beef has been greater than pork and chicken combined.