UN/WHO to Government: Publicise health benefits of fish

Those in the seafood and health industries know only too well the benefits of eating seafood but a report from the big guns recommends our Government should be shouting it from the roof tops.

The United Nations has recommended that Governments worldwide emphasise the health benefits of eating fish particularly for pregnant women, nursing mothers and for adults to significantly reduce the risk of coronary heart disease.

The recommendations follow a joint report by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the World Health Organisation. The report – Joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on the Risks and Benefits of Seafood Consumption - was requested of the organisations by the Codex Committee on Food Additives and Contaminants to seek scientific advice on the risks and benefits of food consumption.

“National authorities have been faced with the challenge of communicating complicated and nuanced messages to consumers and also with questions on how to regulate maximum levels of these chemical containments in fish and other foods,” said the report.

In a bid to provide clear advice, seventeen experts in nutrition, toxicology, epidemiology, dietary exposure and risk-benefit assessment discussed the risks and the benefits of fish consumption, with the aim of providing guidance to national food safety authorities. Overall, it said that Governments should acknowledge fish as an important “food source of energy, protein and a range of essential nutrients...” It also found convincing evidence of the benefits of eating fish particularly for brain development in infants and in preventing coronary heart disease.

Moderate consumption, which is around two servings each week of 100g of fatty fish like salmon and sardines, provides the necessary long chain Omega-3 fatty acids which are crucial for optimal brain development in babies, both in gestation and infancy, particularly if mothers are breastfeeding. The risk of a baby having suboptimal brain development in childhood is also lowered when the mother eats fish.

It further found convincing evidence that eating fish lowers the risk of coronary heart disease and mortality. Interestingly, the report concluded that not eating fish can significantly increase coronary heart disease mortality.

The report not only assessed the benefits of eating seafood, it also assessed the risks. In women of childbearing age this was around the presence of methylmercury and dioxins in seafood consumed when pregnant.

“A number of epidemiological studies of neurobehavioural development in children have been conducted in populations consuming fish/seafood. The two largest and most carefully performed longitudinal studies were out in the Seychelles Islands and the Faroe Islands,” said the report. In a third smaller study in New Zealand, a group of children whose mothers had eaten at least three seafood meals a week when pregnant were studied.

It was concluded by the report there was probable evidence higher levels of dioxins increases the risk of suboptimal brain development in children.  Prenatal methylmercury exposure did effect developmental milestones when children were assessed in the Faroe Islands at seven years old following confirmation the mothers had higher mercury concentrations when pregnant. The report says however that “the diet in the Faroe Islands includes major exposure to consumption of marine mammals (Pilot whales)...and that the major exposure to methylmercury has been estimated to come from pilot whales.”

In New Zealand the risk of methylmercury exposure is minimal. Most New Zealand seafood typically contains significantly less mercury than the World Health Organisation’s recommended maximum safe mercury level. Also, in New Zealand, there are only a few species of fish that may contain relatively higher levels of mercury. These include dogfish, school shark, swordfish, marlin, and fish caught in geothermal waters, like trout. It is advised that pregnant and nursing mums should only eat one serving of these fish every one or two weeks*.

A second risk assessed was whether methylmercury exposure increases the risk of coronary heart disease. However, the report concluded that there was insufficient to possible evidence to support this and that there was insufficient evidence that typical levels of dioxins increase the risk of cancer.

To that end Governments should acknowledge fish as important food source containing essential nutrients and emphasise its health benefits as well as develop databases on the seafood in their region and its health risks or benefits, Lastly and importantly it recommends the communication strategies are developed to minimise risks and maximise benefits from eating fish.

*Source: The Nutritional Importance of Foods of Animal Origin in a Healthy New Zealand Diet, Expert Review Committee, Sept 2006
You can view the report online at www.fao.org