Enviro-Lobbyists Push Prop65 Scare Story, Encourage Seafood-Deficient Diet

Reporters Cautioned not to Repeat Misinformation

Mar-27-2008

Contact:
Gavin Gibbons
(703) 752-8891

The National Fisheries Institute advises local California news outlets and any other news outlets around the United States that erroneous claims about mercury in seafood by Got Mercury  may very well cause significant damage to the pubic health of both mothers and children who fail to include enough seafood in their diet.

Got Mercury asserts restaurants in California that do not post mercury warning signs are failing to comply with Proposition 65. 

“This is untrue,” according to attorney Forrest Hainline, who was involved in the original Prop. 65 case.  “Unless a restaurant agreed to post mercury warning signs in connection with a settlement of litigation, there is no obligation that any restaurant post any mercury warning.  Based upon the findings in the Prop. 65 case against the tuna manufacturers, no restaurant or store selling fish would be required to post any mercury warning.” 

A study published this month in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition illustrates the consequences to public health that result from discouraging seafood consumption. The study of mothers and their babies concluded that a low-seafood diet is deficient in omega-3 fatty acids and poses a risk to babies’ development.

Meanwhile, a growing chorus of independent scientists is putting the real science of mercury and seafood in perspective. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) states, “as an agency we have concluded that the issue [of mercury] has been overstated. Recent scientific understandings are indicating that the public health concerns regarding mercury in fish are not as profound as commonly perceived and therefore can result in unintended consequences by scaring people away from a healthy and nutritious foodstuff.”

The Got Mercury report claims to cite new developments on the mercury front, with specific reference to a January 23, 2008 New York Times article.  The Times article, however, is based on no new evidence or scientific study, ignores the developing science of the importance of seafood to fetal and infant development and has been widely discredited by Time magazine, Slate.com, The Center for Independent Media and the Times’ own public editor.

For more than 60 years, the National Fisheries Institute (NFI) and its members have provided American families with the variety of sustainable seafood essential to a healthy diet. For more information visit: www.AboutSeafood.com.

[ Top ]