Wrong.
From bumblebeetuna.com
Many types of seafood contain minute amounts of mercury called “methyl mercury,” including tuna. The mercury level depends on the size and age of the fish, and the area of the catch. Commercial tuna is caught in the ocean far away from coastal areas where industrial discharges or emissions and the use of chemical compounds containing mercurials can pollute the waters. That fact, combined with the essentially constant levels of mercury in tuna over the past 100 years, suggest that the miniscule amount of mercury that does exist in tuna is naturally occurring.
Nearly all fish contain traces of methyl mercury. Canned tuna meets all health and safety standards set by the FDA, which has established the maximum safe level of methyl mercury allowed in commercial seafood at 1.0 parts per million. In the latest product survey by the FDA, canned light meat tuna averaged less than an eighth of that amount, and canned albacore tuna averaged about a third of the maximum safe level set by the FDA. In the most comprehensive study ever conducted on the subject, the evidence showed that fetal exposure to methyl mercury from fish consumption during pregnancy (at the consumption levels seen in most parts of the world and certainly in the U.S.) does not have measurable cognitive or behavioral effects later in childhood.
The government advisory advises that a well-balanced diet includes a variety of fish and shellfish that can contribute to heart health and children's proper growth and development. Pregnant women, nursing mothers and young children in particular, should include fish or shellfish in their diets due to the many nutritional benefits. The government's advisory also makes it clear that pregnant and nursing women can safely consume albacore as one of their fish choices. Specifically, the advisory tells pregnant women they can safely eat up to six ounces of albacore a week, which translates into three full servings. You can continue to eat up to twelve ounces of a variety of fish (such as our light meat tuna) and shellfish each week.
Health experts agree consumers don’t eat enough seafood and that the health benefits of seafood far outweigh any potential risk. Check out
www.healthytuna.com for more science based facts.
