In June 2014 the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) updated seafood advice for pregnant and breastfeeding women. After reviewing 110 studies, the new draft advice clears the water on outdated guidance, which was widely misunderstood as a warning. Moms-to-be and new moms are now encouraged to eat 2-3 servings of seafood each week for optimal brain development.
The proposed recommendations include the following guidance:
- Pregnant and breastfeeding women should eat 2 to 3 servings a week of a variety of fish, which is important during for babys development before growth, in infancy and in childhood.
- New and expecting moms need to avoid only 4 types of fish shark, swordfish, king mackerel and Gulf of Mexico tilefish.
- Check local fish advisories for fish caught from streams, lakes and rivers.
Currently, the general population eats about one serving of seafood each week, while pregnant women eat even lessa mere half serving. Based on these numbers, most expectant mothers should quadruple the amount of fish they eat to meet the newly proposed goal.
For more information on seafood nutrition, click here. For fish inspiration and recipes, visit DishonFish.com.
For more science upon which the new advice is based, see the below reports:
- Draft Report: A Quantitative Assessment of the Net Effects on Fetal Neurodevelopment from Eating Commercial Fish (As Measured by IQ and also by Early Age Verbal Development in Children), May 2014 The methodology used for this quantitative assessment is novel for FDA in that, rather than attempting to quantify the risk resulting from the presence of a particular hazard in a food, it seeks to balance that risk and the benefit from consumption of the food in the same quantitative analysis. Over 110 published studies were reviewed and the conclusions were vetted by expert peer-reviewers.
- World Health Organization and Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations Joint Expert Consultation on the Risks and Benefits of Fish Consumption, September 2011 A panel of 17 nutrition experts, physicians, and toxicologists reviewed nearly 150 studies.
- United States Department of Agriculture and United States Department of Health and Human Services 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans, January 2011 – A panel of 13 nutrition experts and physicians reviewed 37 studies about seafood and mercury.