Pike, Baltic salmon and herring to be eaten in moderation

The National Food Agency gives new dietary advice to children, teens and persons of child-bearing age

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According to its statement issued on Wednesday, the National Food Agency suggests certain restrictions to the dietary advice on fish consumption in Finland. Three fish in particular have been found to accumulate contaminants that may harm the consumer’s health: salmon caught in the Baltic Sea, large Baltic herring, and predatory fish in inland waters, in particular pike. Salmon and herring accumulate dioxins and dioxin-like compounds, and pike is a source of mercury.
      Dioxin and PCBs accumulate in the organs and have long half-lives. They are suspected to cause developmental disabilities, and in high levels they are also carcinogenic compounds.
     
Nevertheless, fish is still an important part of the Finnish diet, and should be consumed at least twice a week, varying among different fish species. The restrictions issued by the National Food Agency apply to children and teens as well as to men and women at a fertile age, who should avoid eating the fish species listed more than once or twice a month.
      However, the dioxin levels in Baltic herring that are less than 17 cm and younger than 4 years fall below the maximum limits established by the EU. On the other hand, farmed fish contain only low levels of dioxins and PCB compounds, thanks to the control of fish feed quality.
      Furthermore, pregnant women and mothers who are breast-feeding should skip pike completely, because methyl mercury can cross the placenta and damage the brain of the foetus.
     
The new dietary guidelines are based on the EU Fish project, whose purpose was to analyse domestic lake and sea fish for their levels of various contaminants in 2002 and 2003. Consequently, the existing dietary advice were revised.
     
Finnish consumers buy Norwegian farmed salmon and domestic farmed rainbow trout more and more frequently, mostly because they are easy to prepare. Also domestic perch, pike-perch, whitefish, and vendace all sell well. Among the most consumed imported fish are farmed salmon, tinned tuna, deep-frozen saithe, and tinned herring products.


Links:
  The National Food Agency Finland: EU Fish project produces new dietary advice

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