While fish is an important source of nutrients, not all types of fish are safe for consumption. Find out the types of fish that can be eaten safely and those best avoided.
FISH has always been an important source of nutrients. In the past decades, though per capita fish consumption has expanded, the fundamental issue of safety still applies across all continents. While eating fish keeps us healthy, there is the worry of mercury, pesticides, PCBs and dioxins that seem to be present in nearly all fish. But how big is the risk, what types of fish are affected and what types can be eaten safely?
Environmental toxin levels differ from one species of fish to the next. This is due to factors such as the type of fish, size, location, habitat, diet and age. For instance, fish that are predatory such as shark, swordfish, marlin, ray, gemfish, ling, orange roughy and the southern blue fin tuna are large and at the top of the food chain, and so tend to contain more mercury. Pregnant women, nursing mothers, women planning to conceive and children up to six years old should avoid these fish.
While it is recommended to eat one to two servings of oily fish a week, it is wise to avoid fish high in mercury. Excess mercury affects the nervous system, causing numbness or tingling in fingers, lips and toes, delays walking and talking in children, muscle and joint pain as well as an increased risk of heart attack.
The only way to allow us to obtain good nutrition from fish, while avoiding the mercury and other toxins, is regular consumption of fish oils. One study has demonstrated that fish oils show little or no contamination if they are sourced from sardine, salmon and anchovies (which are relatively low in the food chain) versus cod, tuna etc.
Such fish oils are also highly purified and are hence safe for long term consumption. Environmental toxins are minimised using advanced chromatographic and purification techniques to well below legislative and industry limits.
To qualify as a pharmaceutical grade fish oil product, it must be manufactured in a certified Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) facility, and complies to high pharmaceutical standards. This is to ensure the fish oil concentrates are virtually free from lipid peroxides, heavy metals, environmental contaminants, and other harmful compounds.
Consumers need to be aware of both the benefits and risks of fish consumption. Children, pregnant and lactating women may be at increased risk for mercury intoxication from fish consumption. Thus, avoidance of potentially contaminated fish is a higher priority for this group.
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