FSA ISSUES NEW ADVICE ON OILY FISH CONSUMPTION
The FSA has today issued new advice on eating oily fish and, for the first
time, is able to recommend maximum levels at which the health benefits
of preventing heart disease clearly outweigh the possible risks from
dioxins. Based on independent expert advice the Agency recommends that men and
boys, and women past child bearing age, can eat up to four portions of oily
fish a week. Women of childbearing age, including pregnant and
breastfeeding women, and girls, can eat up to two portions of oily fish a week.
Long standing public health advice continues to be that people should
eat
at least two portions of fish a week, and that one should be oily. There
is
good evidence that eating oily fish reduces the risk of death from heart
disease, which killed 117,500 people in 2002. On average, people in the
UK
eat a third of a portion of oily fish a week. Seven out of ten don't eat
any at all.
Because some oily fish contain chemicals such as dioxins and PCBs, which
accumulate over time in the body and could have adverse health effects
if
consumed over long periods at high levels, the FSA asked its expert
advisers in June 2003 to examine the evidence on the risks and benefits
of
eating oily fish. The levels of dioxins in oily fish vary and some
types,
such as herring, tend to have higher levels than others, such as trout.
The experts based their recommendations on people eating different types
of
oily fish.
Dioxins and PCBs are environmental pollutants and people accumulate them
through eating foods containing fat such as milk, meat, fish and eggs.
Exposure to dioxins in foods has fallen by around 70% over the last 10
years and continues to decline following the strict environmental
controls
that came into effect in 1992.
FSA Chair Sir John Krebs said:
'Eating oily fish is a simple way for people to reduce the risks of
heart
disease. But most people don't eat any. Eating just one portion of oily
fish a week has clear cut health benefits. This extensive review of the
scientific evidence has reduced the uncertainty about how many oily fish
people can safely eat without the benefits being outweighed by the
risks.
'I would like to thank Professor Jackson and the members of his expert
group for their hard work and rigorous examination of the scientific
evidence, which has allowed the Agency to issue this new advice.'
Alan Jackson, Professor of Human Nutrition at the School of Medicine,
University of Southampton, and Chairman of the expert group said:
'It was a challenge to weigh up both risks and benefits. We tried to
focus
in on exactly what were the benefits and risks, not just for the
population
as a whole, but for any particular groups. This enabled us to reaffirm
the
advice that everybody would benefit from eating oily fish and to
conclude
that any issues around high consumption were specific to women because
of
the possible risks to the unborn baby.'
Eating oily fish - FSA advice
Men and boys, and women past childbearing age or who cannot or are
not
intending to have children, can eat up to four portions of oily fish a
week before the possible risks might start to outweigh the known
health
benefits
Girls and women who may become pregnant at some point in their lives
can
eat between one and two portions of oily fish a week to get the known
health benefits whilst limiting any possible effects on any children
that
they may have in the future
Pregnant and breastfeeding women can also eat between one and two
portions of oily fish a week, and should do so not just for the health
benefits to them but because oily fish also helps the neurological
development of their babies. (The Agency already advises pregnant
women,
and women intending to become pregnant to avoid shark, marlin and
swordfish and not to eat large amounts of tuna.)
Occasionally eating more than the amounts of oily fish advised by the
Agency will not be harmful. Possible risks from chemicals such as
dioxins
are not immediate: they develop as the chemicals accumulate in the body
over a long period of time.
Notes to editors
1. Copies of the expert group's report are available at www.
food.gov.uk
2. The group of experts was drawn from two independent scientific
committees that advise the Agency: the Committee on Toxicity of
Chemicals
in Food, Consumer Products and the Environment (COT) and the Scientific
Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN). The expert group was established
to
consider the balance of risks and benefits of eating oily fish. Its
membership was:
Chair: Professor Alan Jackson, Professor of Human Nutrition, School of
Medicine, University of Southampton.
Members: Professor Ieuan Hughes (COT Chair), Professor and Head of
Department of Paediatrics University of Cambridge
Professor J.Kevin Chipman (COT), Professor of Cell Toxicology,
University
of Birmingham
Professor Ian Rowland (COT), Professor of Human Nutrition and Director
of
Northern Ireland Centre for Diet and Health (NICHE), University of
Ulster
Professor Christine Williams (SACN), Professor of Human Nutrition,
University of Reading
Dr Timothy Key (SACN), University of Oxford, Cancer Research UK
Epidemiology, Radcliffe Infirmary
3. Links to facts on fish consumption and dioxin levels on website www.food.gov.uk
4. The advice is additional to existing Agency advice that pregnant
women intending to become pregnant and children under 16 should not eat
shark, swordfish and marlin. Pregnant women and women intending to
become
pregnant should also limit the amount of tuna they eat to no more than
two
tuna steaks or four medium-size cans of tuna a week. This is because of
the levels of mercury in these fish. At high levels mercury can harm a
baby's developing nervous system.
