Contaminants
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Mercury in Fish
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Is mercury a risk for everyone or only pregnant women?
Mercury poses the greatest risk to developing fetuses, infants and young children because their brains and nervous systems are still developing. As a result, women of childbearing age should minimize their intake of fish, as mercury accumulates in the blood and can take more than year to be significantly purged from their bodies. Mercury exposure, especially high levels, can also harm all adults.
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Is all fish equally contaminated? And if so, should I eliminate fish from my diet completely?
Nearly all fish and shellfish contain traces of mercury. Larger fish species have higher levels, as they live longer and have more time to accumulate mercury. Large fish, such as king mackerels, swordfish, tilefish, and shark have the highest levels and should be avoided. Crab, tuna and freshwater trout possess the next highest levels. The best solution is to moderate the intake of long-lived fish. Eat a variety of smaller fish.
Melamine Contaminated Fish Feed
Thousands of pet deaths across the United States prompted a Food and Drug Administration investigation that uncovered melamine, a chemical component of plastics and pesticides, in 100 brands of pet food. All of these brands had used an imported ingredient from China that had been falsely labeled “wheat gluten” or “rice protein concentrate,” when in reality it was wheat flour mixed with melamine. Although melamine does not have U.S. approval for human or animal consumption, Chinese manufacturers apparently added the melamine to falsely inflate the protein profile of the wheat flour, a reportedly common practice in China.