Three weeks ago Eva explained to us the position of the Spanish Agency for Food Safety and Nutrition (AESAN), which is an agency under the Ministry of Health, regarding the consumption of large fish by pregnant women, women in period Breastfeeding and children.
As they explained then, these population groups are recommended not to eat bluefin tuna, swordfish or shark because of the high mercury content found in large fish, becoming considered contaminated animals.
The position of this agency has not changed, so we talk about this issue again for two reasons: because it is again a hot topic, as many media have published this news now, and because companies that sell canned tuna already They have explained that we can continue to accompany the salad without problems with their tuna, because The tuna used for canning is not bluefin tuna, which is the one that is "banned".
As AESAN explains, with a pregnant woman taking 100 grams of swordfish a week she will already be taking the tolerable amount of mercury. If we talk about children between 7 and 12 years old, the amount is limited to 50 grams per week.
These limitations occur because Mercury can cause alterations in the neural development of the fetus, if a pregnant woman swallows it too much, and also in the general development of young children.
It can also cause lung damage, diarrhea, tremor, sleep disturbance and other symptoms, and all this because large fish such as bluefin tuna or swordfish, which live up to 10 years and feed on other fish (which also ingests mercury), they accumulate every day the industrial mercury that comes from the industries, a heavy metal that never disintegrates.
Luckily, as I said, canned tuna can be eaten without problems, so we can continue with our great tuna sandwiches, which come so well in the summer.
However, it is a pity that we have to walk like this, avoiding eating some fish because someone has not found a better place to throw their mercury than the sea.
