Catherine Saxelby's Foodwatch | Q. To avoid mercury, which are the best types of fish to buy?

Q. To avoid mercury, which are the best types of fish to buy?

A.  In general, buy the smaller shorter-lived fish as they have less mercury than large long-living types such as shark (flake), swordfish, marlin or deep sea perch (orange roughy).

These big long-living or predatory fish tend to accumulate higher levels of mercury which can damage the nervous system of an unborn baby. All fish have some mercury but it's only four types that have been singled out as a problem:

1. shark
2. swordfish and marlin
3. deep sea perch (orange roughy)
4. catfish.

All other fish are OK eg. John Dory, bream, whiting, ling, tuna, salmon.

Canned tuna has less mercury than fresh tuna as it uses smaller fish caught when only one year old.

Note: It's only pregnant/breastfeeding women and children up to 6 years who need to limit their intake. The rest of the population don't need to be so vigilant (which is a relief).

 

More info

 Read up on more detail on Mercury in fish.

 

 

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