Fish and mercury contamination

Updated: 2020-07-16

Answer Section

You aren't alone. Many people are concerned and confused about mercury contamination and as a result aren't eating fish twice a week as recommended for good health.

To help you navigate these murky waters, the Food and Drug Administration released "Eating Fish: What Pregnant Women and Parents Should Know." This guide provides advice suitable for everyone — men, women and children — on getting the nutritional benefits of fish while minimizing exposure to contaminants such as mercury.

The guide has three categories and recommendations of how much to eat:

• Best choices. Eat two to three servings a week of anchovies, canned light tuna, cod, haddock, perch, salmon, sardines, scallops, shrimp, tilapia, trout, whitefish
• Good choices. Eat one serving a week of albacore (white) tuna, ahi (yellowfin) tuna, bluefish, carp, grouper, halibut, mahi-mahi, snapper, striped bass, tilefish (Atlantic Ocean)
• Avoid. Don't eat bigeye tuna, king mackerel, marlin, orange roughy, shark, swordfish, tilefish (Gulf of Mexico)

Serving sizes are determined by age:

• Children 2-3 years of age: 1 serving is 1 ounce (28 grams)
• Children 4-7 years of age: 1 serving is 2 ounces (57 grams)
• Children 8-10 years of age: 1 serving is 3 ounces (85 grams)
• Adults and children 11 years of age or older: 1 serving is 4 ounces (113 grams)

Should you be worried if you ate a fish from the "avoid" list? No, but be sure to choose fish from the "best" and "good" categories going forward.

If you fish in and eat from local waters, follow fish advisories for that area. If no data is available, limit to 6 ounces of that fish a week for adults. For children under 6 years of age, limit to 1-2 ounces (28-57grams). For those 6-12 years of age, limit to 2-3 ounces (57 to 85 grams).

Don't let the worry of contaminants take the enjoyment out of fishing and eating fish. Follow the advisories and the recommendations to regularly include fish in your diet.