FDA Seeks to Revise Recommendations for Fish Consumption During Pregnancy

FDA has reportedly sent a draft report to the White House Office of Management and Budget, seeking to reverse the government’s recommendation that women of childbearing years, pregnant or nursing mothers, infants, and children limit their fish intake due to possible mercury contamination. The agency has claimed that the positive health effects of omega-3 fatty acids and other beneficial nutrients found in fish outweigh the risks of dietary mercury, which can behave as a neurotoxin during early development. The draft report would update a 2004 joint advisory statement issued by FDA and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) warning women and children to avoid four types of fish high in mercury: swordfish, shark, tilefish, and king mackerel. In addition, the federal government advises these consumers to reduce their fish consumption to less than 12 ounces per week, including at most 6 ounces of canned albacore tuna.

FDA apparently acted unilaterally in submitting its latest assessment, drawing the ire of EPA officials who questioned the scientific validity of the draft report’s predictive model. In addition, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) has suggested that FDA is falling in line with the seafood lobby before President-Elect Barack Obama takes office in January. “Once again, the Bush administration seems intent on ignoring sound science on mercury poisoning,” he was quoted as saying. See The Washington Post and Environmental Working Group Press Release, December 12, 2008; Chicago Tribune, December 14, 2008.