A recent report suggests pregnant women should avoid eating tuna altogether.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed new guidelines recommending women of childbearing age and young children eat more fish, but Consumer Reports pointed out this could cause these individuals to consume too much mercury.
The agencies warn consumers to seek out fish that is low in mercury levels, almost all seafood contains the toxin to some extent, and consuming too much could damage the brain and immune system; fetuses are especially vulnerable to its effects. Those who eat too much mercury-rich seafood can experience "problems with fine motor coordination, speech, sleep, and walking, and prickly sensations," according to Consumer Reports.
Current federal recommendations encourage women who are pregnant, breastfeeding, or trying to become pregnant to consume between eight and 12 ounces of fish per week; children are also included in these recommendations. This is the first time these agencies have set a minimum level for weekly fish consumption.
Consumer Reports' food-safety experts looked at the FDA's data on the subject; they identified about 20 seafood choices that could be eaten several times per week with little danger, even by pregnant women. Consumer Reports disagreed with the FDA and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recommendations on how much tuna children and women of reproductive age should eat. They think recommended pregnant women should completely avoid tuna.
"We're particularly concerned about canned tuna, which is second only to shrimp as the most commonly eaten seafood in the U.S.," said Jean Halloran, director of food policy initiatives for Consumers Union, the policy and advocacy arm of Consumer Reports.
Because it is so popularity and high mercury content tuna accounts for about 28 percent of Americans' mercury exposure.
"Based on a review of the latest science, we have concluded that it is possible for pregnant and breast-feeding women, and women who might become pregnant, to increase growth and developmental benefits to their children by eating more fish than these groups of women typically do," the FDA said in a statement to Consumer Reports . "This can be done while still protecting them from the potentially harmful effects of methylmercury in fish."
