Table 3.
Changes in the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA)/Environmental Protection Agency guidelines on fish consumption for women planning to become pregnant and those who are pregnant or breast-feeding
| Pre-2001 | Hg from commercial fish consumption not considered to pose significant health threats and the benefits of seafood consumption outweigh the risks | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Advisory published in 2001* | Avoid large predatory fish. Limit consumption of all fish, including canned fish, to <12 oz/week‡. Eat a variety of other fish – including shellfish, canned fish, smaller ocean fish and farm-raised fish | ||
| Do not eat | Limit | General | |
| Guidance published in 2004( 64 ) | ∙ Tilefish from the Gulf of Mexico ∙ Shark ∙ Swordfish ∙ King mackerel | White (albacore) tuna to 6 oz/week as part of 2 servings of fish per week In addition, limit fish caught from streams, rivers and lakes to 6 oz/week in the absence of specific advice from fish advisories on those waterbodies, but don’t eat any other fish that week | Eat up to 12 oz of a variety of fish and shellfish that are lower in Hg per week (2 servings) Choose fish lower in Hg: ∙ Salmon ∙ Shrimp ∙ Pollock ∙ Tuna (light canned) ∙ Catfish |
| Do not eat | Limit | General | |
| Draft advice released in 2014† | ∙ Tilefish from the Gulf of Mexico ∙ Shark ∙ Swordfish ∙ King mackerel | White (albacore) tuna to 6 oz/week In addition, limit fish caught from streams, rivers and lakes to 6 oz/week in the absence of specific advice from fish advisories on those waterbodies( 26 ) | Eat 8–12 oz of a variety of fish per week (2–3 servings) Choose fish lower in Hg: ∙ Salmon ∙ Shrimp ∙ Pollock ∙ Tuna (light canned) ∙ Tilapia ∙ Catfish ∙ Cod |
| Do not eat | Good choices | Best choices | |
| Guidance published in 2017( 25 ) | ∙ Tilefish from the Gulf of Mexico | Childbearing age (16–49 years) and especially during pregnancy and breast-feeding: Eat 2–3 servings per week from ‘Best choices’ or 1 serving per week from ‘Good choices’ list | |
| ∙ Shark ∙ Swordfish ∙ King mackerel ∙ Marlin ∙ Orange roughy ∙ Bigeye tuna | ‘Good choices’: Bluefish, buffalo fish, carp, Chilean sea bass/Patagonian toothfish, grouper, halibut, mahi mahi/dolphinfish, monkfish, rockfish sable fish, sheepshead, snapper, Spanish mackerel, striped bass (ocean), tilefish (Atlantic Ocean), tuna (albacore/white tuna, canned and fresh/frozen), tuna (yellowfin), white croaker/pacific croaker | ‘Best choices’: Anchovy, Atlantic croaker, Atlantic mackerel, black sea bass, butterfish, catfish, clam, cod, crab, crawfish, flounder, haddock, hake, herring, lobster (American and spiny), mullet, oyster, Pacific chub mackerel, perch (freshwater and ocean), pickerel, plaice, pollock, salmon, sardine, scallop, shad, shrimp, skate, smelt, sole, squid, tilapia, trout (freshwater), tuna (canned light – includes skipjack), whitefish, whiting) | |
In 2015 the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists issued guidance reflecting the 2014 FDA draft advice( 76 ); this was superseded by a practice advisory in 2017 in line with the 2017 FDA advice( 77 ).
*
Cited in Shimshack and Ward( 38 ).
†
First accessed 27 September 2015. Not available online when access attempted again on 5 October 2017 (originally available at http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodborneIllnessContaminants/Metals/ucm393070.htm).
‡
About 330 g.