Mercury in skipjack tuna - safe ?

jbvpn
jbvpn Posts: 17 Member
edited November 23 in Food and Nutrition


I am a regular consumer of tinned skipjack tuna - normally 4 times a week maybe 5

These are 125g cans of tuna chunks.

Only just found out that the mercury content is high and articles say to have it once or twice a week??

Never come across this before ? Not come across any evidence of someone suffering from mercury poisoning from eating tuna?

The Japanese eat lots of tuna!

I could eat salmon but mainly avoid it due to the price (3 x that of tuna)

Any thoughts on this ?

Replies

  • Lean59man
    Lean59man Posts: 714 Member
    Mercury has always been high in tuna.

  • HellYeahItsKriss
    HellYeahItsKriss Posts: 906 Member
    Is the place you read this from an actual credible study and not a blog full of woo like buzzfeed?

    If I am going to do my own research I would aim to find studies done on humans and the mercury is canned tuna and then make my own decision.
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  • Rocknut53
    Rocknut53 Posts: 1,794 Member
    I would certainly do some research is you are eating that much tuna. Mercury is one of those things that accumulates in the body, just as it does in fish and there is no way to get rid of it. There are proven lasting effects from mercury which is why they no longer use it in thermometers that can break. As kids we used to play with those pretty little globules of liquid silver... :s
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  • vingogly
    vingogly Posts: 1,785 Member
    edited December 2017
    Skipjack and canned light have the lowest levels for any tuna, 0.144PPM and 0.126PPM; here are the mercury levels for various kinds of fish and shellfish:

    https://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodborneIllnessContaminants/Metals/ucm115644.htm

    Other kinds of tuna have much higher mercury levels (albacore, yellowfin, bigeye). Salmon has much lower mercury levels. In general, the bigger the fish the higher the mercury because big fish eat a lot of small fish and "inherit" the mercury from them. Regarding the Japanese eating a lot of tuna, they've seen some pretty serious problems as a result:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minamata_disease

    I rarely eat tuna for this reason - I use salmon instead in a favorite recipe of mine.
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  • EricLFC1892
    EricLFC1892 Posts: 85 Member
    vingogly wrote: »
    Skipjack and canned light have the lowest levels for any tuna, 0.144PPM and 0.126PPM; here are the mercury levels for various kinds of fish and shellfish:

    https://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodborneIllnessContaminants/Metals/ucm115644.htm

    Other kinds of tuna have much higher mercury levels (albacore, yellowfin, bigeye). Salmon has much lower mercury levels. In general, the bigger the fish the higher the mercury because big fish eat a lot of small fish and "inherit" the mercury from them. Regarding the Japanese eating a lot of tuna, they've seen some pretty serious problems as a result:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minamata_disease

    I rarely eat tuna for this reason - I use salmon instead in a favorite recipe of mine.

    there is no mention of tuna what so ever with regards to Minamata disease
  • jgnatca
    jgnatca Posts: 14,464 Member
    Here’s the mercury content on different fish. The type of tuna matters.

    https://www.fda.gov/food/foodborneillnesscontaminants/metals/ucm115644.htm

    You might be eating fish a little more often than advised but check for yourself.
  • OldHobo
    OldHobo Posts: 647 Member
    jbvpn wrote: »
    I am a regular consumer of tinned skipjack tuna ... mercury content is high ... Any thoughts on this?
    A few years ago I decided to cut back on tuna in favor of sardines because I thought it would be healthier for me, the ocean, and the planet. This year I consumed several dozen cans of sardines, maybe one or two cans of tuna.
  • LiftHeavyThings27105
    LiftHeavyThings27105 Posts: 2,086 Member
    I used to eat Tuna every day, all day. And, Skip Jack Tuna was the tuna that I ate.

    ::::::::VERY VERY VERY GENERAL COMMENT::::::::

    There are several type of Tuna. If you consider that Tuna is a HUGE predator and that they eat just about everything besides sharks - depending on the species of Tuna we are discussing - then this makes more sense. If you consider that there are basically five types of Tuna (Albacore, Big Eye, Yellow Fin, Blue Fin, Skip Jack) and if you consider the size of each then that would help you to understand what they eat - or don't. Here is a good link to describe them: http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/eat-tuna-know-fish/

    The bigger the species then the more they eat. The more they eat then the greater the likelihood of a higher mercury content.

    Anyway, very very very general comments........I did not know any of this stuff two years ago. Started eating Tuna and educated myself. Skip Jack is 90% of what I ate. Yellow Fin was other 10%. Lots of sources. I buy a LOT from Trader Joes.
  • RodaRose
    RodaRose Posts: 9,562 Member
    Most of the concern is about women who might become pregnant, but too much mercury is not good for any of us.

    If you like sardines, they are low in mercury because they are small fish --> low on the food chain.

    https://www.fda.gov/food/foodborneillnesscontaminants/metals/ucm351781.htm
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