Clean Wisconsin: Back to School Lunches: Should Tuna & Fish Sticks be Part of the Meal?

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Clean Wisconsin: Back to School Lunches: Should Tuna & Fish Sticks be Part of the Meal?

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Clean Wisconsin: Back to School Lunches: Should Tuna & Fish Sticks be Part of the Meal?

MADISON, WISCONSIN, Sep. 9 -/E-Wire/-- Thousands of children are back in school. An important part of the day is lunch. However, mercury pollution in our waterways and consequently in our fish continues to fuel the debate over the amount and types of fish and shellfish that are deemed safe to eat. Clean Wisconsin, an environmental advocacy group, cautions those packing and buying lunches to consider how frequently you and your child eat fish.

"While fish are a healthy food - high in protein and low in saturated fat - they also can be harmful to your health and your child's health. It's too bad, but both marine fish - tuna, swordfish, and pollock for example - and freshwater fish - particularly large predator fish like bass, walleye and northern pike - have been found to be contaminated with mercury," stated Liz Wessel, Executive Director of Clean Wisconsin and mother of two teenage children. "Protecting your child's health means heeding the Food and Drug Administration's and Department of Natural Resources' advisories on limiting the amount of fish your child should eat," explained Wessel.

According to the Wisconsin's Department of Natural Resources (WDNR) guide titled, Choose Wisely: A Healthy Guide to Eating Fish in Wisconsin, women of childbearing age and children under fifteen years old should only eat two meals per month of canned white tuna, tuna steaks and halibut; and eat only one meal per month of fish like walleye, northern pike, smallmouth and largemouth bass, and flathead catfish. Because many Wisconsin families eat both marine and freshwater fish, the advisory holds special importance.

Mercury affects the human nervous system; it influences brain function and is especially toxic to growing children. According to WDNR's guide, "Mercury can damage developing brains of children and may affect a child's behavior and ability to learn."

WDNR's Choose Wisely: A Healthy Guide to Eating Fish in Wisconsin. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Fish purchased in stores and restaurants may also contain contaminants. Follow these guidelines for popular commercial species to reduce your exposure to mercury: ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Purchased Species

Women of child-bearing age Women beyond child- and children under 15 bearing age and men ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Shark, swordfish, Do Not Eat 1 meal per month king mackerel, tilefish ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Canned white tuna, 2 meals per month 1 meal per week tuna steaks, halibut ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Salmon, shrimp, 2 meals per week Unlimited consumption canned light tuna, pollock, catfish ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Source: WDNR's Choose Wisely: A Healthy Guide to Eating Fish in Wisconsin. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Safe eating guidelines for most of Wisconsin's inland (non-Great Lakes) waters ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Women of childbearing age, nursing Women beyond childbearing years mothers and children under 15 may and men may eat: eat:(a) ---------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 meal per Walleye, northern pike, 1 meal per Walleye, northern pike, month of: smallmouth bass, week of: smallmouth bass, largemouth bass, largemouth bass, channel catfish, channel catfish, flathead catfish, white flathead catfish or sucker, drum, burbot, other species, sauger, sturgeon, carp, white bass, rock bass or other species,(a)

1 meal per Bluegill, sunfish, Unlimited Bluegill, sunfish, week of: black crappie, white amounts black crappie, white crappie, yellow perch of: crappie, yellow perch, or bullheads. or bullheads. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- (a) Muskies should not be eaten by this group of people due to high mercury content. ----------------------------------------------------------------------

Clean Wisconsin worked to get a Wisconsin-based rule in place, limiting the mercury pollution coming from coal-burning power plants, the largest source of mercury pollution in the United States. "Unfortunately, the mercury rule proposed by the Bush Administration Environmental Protection Agency will undermine Wisconsin's efforts to start cleaning up mercury pollution from our lakes, rivers and ultimately our fisheries," stated Wessel.

For more information on the recommended amount and types of fish that are safe to eat, visit www.dnr.state.wi.us. To send a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency, asking for stronger mercury reductions, visit www.cleanwisconsin.org.

Clean Wisconsin, an environmental advocacy organization, protects Wisconsin's clean water and air and advocates for clean energy by being an effective voice in the state legislature and by holding elected officials and corporations accountable. Founded in 1970 as Wisconsin's Environmental Decade, Clean Wisconsin exposes corporate polluters, makes sure existing environmental laws are enforced, and educates citizens and businesses. On behalf of its 10,000 members and its coalition partners, Clean Wisconsin protects the special places that make Wisconsin such a wonderful place to live, work and play. Phone: [REDACTED-PHONE], Fax: [REDACTED-PHONE], Email: [REDACTED-EMAIL], Website: www.cleanwisconsin.org.

NOTE TO EDITORS: Hi-res images available for downloading at www.cleanwisconsin.org

Liz Wessel (Media Contact),

[REDACTED-PHONE], ext. 11

http://www.cleanwisconsin.org

http://www.cleanwisconsin.org

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