Another Reason Not to Eat Tuna?

It keeps happening: discoveries like the one reported on the front page of today's New York Times (High Mercury Levels Are Found in Tuna Sushi) keep telling us that eating tuna just isn't a great idea.

After being pregnant last year, I all but completely removed it from my diet. But lately, there are some interesting "lower" and "lowest" mercury options out there, which Burrows's article neglects to discuss. Read on...

For reference, the tuna tested as part of today's article in the Times peaked at 1.4ppm (purchased at Gourmet Garage). At the Fancy Food Show, we met a few companies working with "safer" tuna, all of whom can beat these numbers.

First, an option for raw, sushi-grade tuna, is Kona Kampachi, a Hawaiian Yellowtail that is raised in the open ocean off the Kona Coast of Hawaii "without depleting wild fisheries or harming the ocean environment," and Kona Kampachi is apparently "free of detectable mercury." Now, of course there's the issue of shipping the product from Hawaii to the rest of us, but I'm not going to get into that in this post.

We also met the folks from Wild Planet, a tuna company based in Northern California. They claim to produce "the finest wild seafood only from fisheries that are sustainable and free of wasteful by-catch and habitat destruction" and their canned tuna has, they say, the lowest mercury content in the industry (0.15ppm, on average). This is great news for the tuna-sandwich addicted.

This is a topic we'll keep covering, and look for a full review of the Kona Kompachi in the coming week.

Comments (6)

The problem with this type of fish is how they feed them. Many farm-raised fish (whether in the ocean or in ponds) are fed chicken and fish by-products, and not the full range of nutrients the fish could find on their own.

Of course, you can avoid all risk by not eating fish or any animal products at all. Your body and the animals will thank you.

I love raw tuna.... Oh well gonna still keep on eating it... LOL

kampachi was the secret ingredient on iron chef america this week, but i don't know if it was the kona kind or not. but they said kampachi actually has more omega-3 than salmon, so there's another health benefit as well.

i'm intrigued by the Wild Planet tuna - i haven't had canned fish (aside from anchovies) in a long time, but i am a tuna melt fan. i can't figure out from their website if they distribute locally (in SF), but i'll be on the lookout.

I'm confused because the Japanese eat tons of fish including tuna and are fine. I've never heard of Japanese women not eating fish during pregnancies either. ??

Mercury poisoning isn't a problem unless you eat A LOT of fish. For most people, it shouldn't be a concern.

As far as pregnancy goes, many experts say that the warnings against eating too much fish while pregnant because of mercury cause woment to not eat enough fish, which is actually incredibly healthy and great for your baby's neurological development.

As with most things in life, moderation is key. If you eat fish a few times a week, no worries. If you eat sushi every day, maybe you should lay off it a bit.