Monday, December 12, 2005
How safe can you be if they can't even check dead fish?
The next time you are seduced by a fine looking swordfish filet, consider making a thermometer out of it instead. As this article in the Chicago Tribune shows, you will probably have enough mercury on your plate to do so.
And when the Tribune bought and tested this particular piece of fish, the results showed not just high amounts of mercury, but levels three times the legal limit.And how does the FDA respond to this?
This repeated neglect by the U.S. government--the lack of mercury testing, the failure to adequately warn consumers, the unwillingness to enforce its own rules--has unnecessarily put Americans at risk for decades, a Tribune investigation shows.
Year after year, the federal government has failed to fully disclose the hazards of mercury in fish to the public.
In some cases, regulators have ignored the advice of their own scientists who concluded that mercury was far more dangerous than what consumers were being told.
In other instances, regulators have made decisions that benefited the fishing industry at the expense of public health.
"Am I pleased with the way our department has handled this issue? Yes," said David Acheson, the FDA's chief medical officer. "Outstanding job all around."Hm-m, is his nickname "Brownie"? Just wondering.
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