Organic Foods |
Fish |
Nutrition & Cooking Classes
There are two things to consider when eating fish:
1) Mercury Content
2) Sustainability
In terms of health & mercury content, large, long-lived, predatory ocean fish have the highest mercury levels. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have issued the following advisory for pregnant women, women of childbearing age, nursing mothers, and young children:
- Avoid eating fish with high levels of methyl mercury, including shark, swordfish, king mackerel, and tilefish.
- Since mercury can be found in small amounts in any fish, generally avoid eating more than 12 oz per week. The fish with the lowest mercury content are shrimp, canned light tuna, wild salmon, pollack, and catfish.
- Albacore (white) tuna has more mercury than canned light tuna. Limit this type of tuna to 6 oz per week.
In terms of sustainability, there are certain fish whose ecosystems are about to crash and their populations are threatened, so choosing not to eat them is a choice that supports sustainability.
From the Audobon Society (www.audobon.org):Enjoy:
Anchovies
Catfish
Crawfish
Dungeness Crab
Halibut (Pacific)
Mussels & Clams
Oysters (Pacific farmed)
Sablefish
Salmon (wild Alaskan)
Sardines
Striped Bass
Tilapia
Tuna: Ahi, Yellowfin, Bigeye, Albacore (pole/troll-caught)
Be Careful:
Cod (Pacific)
Lobster
Mahi-Mahi
Oysters (wild-caught)
Rainbow Trout
Scallops (bay and sea)
Shrimp (U.S. farmed and trawl-caught)
Squid
Swordfish
Tuna (canned)
Tuna: Ahi, Yellowfin, Bigeye, Albacore (longline caught)
Avoid:
Caviar
Cod (Atlantic)
Chilean Sea Bass
Flounder and Soles
Grouper
Halibut (Atlantic)
Monkfish
Orange Roughy
Red Snapper
Salmon (farmed, including Atlantic)
Sharks
Shrimp (imported)
Tuna: Bluefin
