Sushi lovers, beware! When it comes to food safety, eating it "has become the new Russian roulette," Reuters reports of a new campaign from the California-based Sea Turtle Restoration Project. Why? It's the high level of mercury in the fish.
The group tested mercury levels in the fish served by six top sushi restaurants in Los Angeles. The results? There was so much mercury in the fish that tester Eli Saddler of gotmercury.org warned the food should not be served to the public. Mercury can permanently damage the nervous system in fetuses and may cause temporary memory loss in adults, reports Reuters.
The mercury level in the sushi at those L.A. restaurants was 0.721 parts per million, which is 88 percent higher than the reported Food and Drug Administration level of 0.383 ppm for all fresh and frozen tuna. Some of those samples were so contaminated with mercury that by FDA standards they were unsafe for anyone to eat. Fish that are most notably laced with mercury are big-eyed tuna and blue and yellow-finned tuna, which are also the most popular varieties used in sushi restaurants. Older and bigger fish, such as tuna, have more mercury than smaller fish with shorter life spans, such as salmon and shrimp, which have almost no risk of carrying mercury.
Sushi restaurateurs, such as Nobi Kusuhara, who owns Sushi Sasabune in Los Angeles, insist that sushi is still healthy to eat. "As long as restaurants warn pregnant women and people to eat smaller fish, it is definitely safer and healthier than beef or chicken," Kusuhara told Reuters.
Story found at: http://channels.netscape.com/whatsnew/default.jsp?story=20060307-0842
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I know some of you like sushi so I thought I would pass this story along. Will it change your habits? Probably not. I hate sushi. Personally, I'd rather suck on a broken thermometer to get my mercury content.
Who else here likes/dislikes sushi? What is your favorite kind if you like it? I was okay with the salmon rolls but that was about it.
The group tested mercury levels in the fish served by six top sushi restaurants in Los Angeles. The results? There was so much mercury in the fish that tester Eli Saddler of gotmercury.org warned the food should not be served to the public. Mercury can permanently damage the nervous system in fetuses and may cause temporary memory loss in adults, reports Reuters.
The mercury level in the sushi at those L.A. restaurants was 0.721 parts per million, which is 88 percent higher than the reported Food and Drug Administration level of 0.383 ppm for all fresh and frozen tuna. Some of those samples were so contaminated with mercury that by FDA standards they were unsafe for anyone to eat. Fish that are most notably laced with mercury are big-eyed tuna and blue and yellow-finned tuna, which are also the most popular varieties used in sushi restaurants. Older and bigger fish, such as tuna, have more mercury than smaller fish with shorter life spans, such as salmon and shrimp, which have almost no risk of carrying mercury.
Sushi restaurateurs, such as Nobi Kusuhara, who owns Sushi Sasabune in Los Angeles, insist that sushi is still healthy to eat. "As long as restaurants warn pregnant women and people to eat smaller fish, it is definitely safer and healthier than beef or chicken," Kusuhara told Reuters.
Story found at: http://channels.netscape.com/whatsnew/default.jsp?story=20060307-0842
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
I know some of you like sushi so I thought I would pass this story along. Will it change your habits? Probably not. I hate sushi. Personally, I'd rather suck on a broken thermometer to get my mercury content.
Who else here likes/dislikes sushi? What is your favorite kind if you like it? I was okay with the salmon rolls but that was about it.
poor things are overfished
