Posibles problemas derivados del
contenido en mercurio del pescado
Basado
en una nota del EWG y en un comunicado del FDA
 a Agencia
Alimentaria de Estados Unidos (FDA), ha anunciado que próximamente revisará
sus recomendaciones respecto al contenido en mercurio de ciertos pescados,
especialmente en relación con sus posibles efectos sobre mujeres
embarazadas. La FDA
recomendaba hasta ahora que las mujeres embarazadas se abstuvieran de
consumir las especies con mas probabilidades de tener un alto contenido en
metil-mercurio, entre las que están el pez espada, el emperador y la
caballa, mencionando que se pueden consumir con seguridad 12 onzas (340
gramos) por semana de pescado de otras especies distintas de las
mencionadas. Un reciente
informe del grupo Environmental Working Group (EWG), ha puesto en tela de
juicio las recomendaciones de la FDA, que cree insuficientes en relación con
el peligro que entiende que supone la contaminación por mercurio para el
feto, motivando que la FDA haya decidido convocar para revisar la
información disponible. Concretamente el EWG pide criterios mas estrictos en
las recomendaciones y que se incluya el atún, tanto fresco como enlatado,
entre los alimentos peligrosos para el feto.
FDA Talk
Papers are prepared by the Press Office to guide FDA personnel in
responding with consistency and accuracy to questions from the public
on subjects of current interest. Talk Papers are subject to change as
more information becomes available.
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T02-14 Media Inquiries: 301-436-2335
March 1, 2002 Consumer Inquiries: 888-INFO-FDA
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FDA ANNOUNCES FOODS
ADVISORY COMMITTEE TO MEET ON METHYL MERCURY IN SEAFOOD
The Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) today announced that it will soon schedule a
meeting of its Foods Advisory Committee to review issues surrounding
methyl mercury in commercial seafood. This review will include a re-examination
of FDA's most recent Consumer Advisory, issued in January 2001 and
revised in March 2001, for pregnant women and women of child-bearing
age who may become pregnant.
The advisory
recommended that these women should avoid eating the four fish species
with the highest levels of methyl mercury: shark, swordfish, king
mackerel, and tile fish. It concluded that these women could safely
eat 12 ounces per week of a variety of other fish, with the emphasis
on choosing a variety of different species.
At that time, FDA set
forth its rationale for this decision in a formal, publicly available
document, "Rationale for Issuance of Revised Advisory on Methyl
Mercury and Fish Consumption." This document is available on FDA's web
site at http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~acrobat/hgadv4.pdf.
A recent report by
the Environmental Working Group calls into question the basis for
FDA's Consumer Advisory and the way in which FDA reached its
conclusions on methyl mercury in seafood for this group of women.
FDA stands behind the
process that led to its current Consumer Advisory on this subject, as
well as the science that supports that advisory. In reaching its
conclusions about methyl mercury in fish, FDA met with a broad range
of interested parties, including consumer groups, health professionals,
industry, and state public health officials.
Nevertheless, as a
science-based agency committed to openness and transparency in its
processes, FDA is convening its Foods Advisory Committee to meet in an
open, public forum to discuss this important public health issue.
FDA expects to hold
the meeting on methyl mercury in seafood later this spring. Details
concerning the time and place of the meeting will be published in the
Federal Register. |
El pescado azul, y
concretamente las especies mencionadas, se considera por una parte un
alimento saludable por su alto contenido en diversos elementos de gran valor
nutritivo como ácidos grasos esenciales, Omega-3 etc.
Sin embargo existen, por otro
lado estas dudas sobre los efectos de su posible contenido en mercurio. De
existir este problema en EEUU, en España existiría también y en mucha mayor
medida, ya que los peces son los mismos y el consumo per capita de pescado
total y de pescado de estas especies es en España mucho mas elevado que en
EEUU.
|
