Label Tuna for Mercury, AMA Urges FDA

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Label Tuna for Mercury, AMA Urges FDA

WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, Jul. 8 -/E-Wire/-- Advocates are applauding new policies recently adopted by the American Medical Association calling on the Food & Drug Administration to test fish and require stores to post mercury warnings wherever canned tuna and other fish are sold.

"FDA recently warned pregnant women and children to limit albacore tuna consumption to one can per week," said Michael Bender of the Mercury Policy Project. "Now it's time for FDA to thoroughly test seafood and follow AMA's recommendation to mandate mercury warnings wherever canned tuna and other seafood is sold."

The resolution -- modeled after an earlier resolution adopted by the California Medical Association at the prompting of Jane Hightower, MD -- urges FDA to do more fish testing for mercury, something that advocates, physicians and members of Congress have been recommending for years. AMA policies also recommend that women of child bearing age and pregnant women follow the most protective mercury fish consumption advisory available and that physicians should make patients aware of such advisories.

Last year, California grocery chains -- including Safeway, Whole Foods and Trader Joe's -- began posting mercury warnings at fish counters advising women and children to not eat swordfish and shark, and to limit consumption of fresh tuna. And just last month, Lockyer filed another lawsuit aimed at requiring the tuna industry and stores to label cans or post mercury warnings where canned tuna is sold.

Mercury is a persistent, bio-accumulative toxin that poses a significant health risk. A potent neurotoxin, mercury exposures can affect the brain, kidneys and liver, and spinal chord, and causes developmental problems. Recent EPA findings indicate that 1-in-6 women of childbearing age have unsafe mercury levels, translating into 630,000 children born at risk in the U.S. each year.

http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/article/print/2036-8669.html

California Attorney General press releases on mercury fish warning lawsuits:

http://www.ag.ca.gov/newsalerts/2004/04-065.htm

http://www.ag.ca.gov/newsalerts/2003/03-010.htm

The Mercury Policy Project's website: http://www.mercurypolicy.org

http://www.usnewswire.com/

Mercury Policy Project

of the Mercury Policy Project,

http://www.mercurypolicy.org

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