Sushi Restaurant Tuna Has Highest Mercury Level

This is depressing.

It appears that the bluefin tuna that is very sought-after for sushi also has the highest mercury level, when compared to cheaper supermarket tuna.

The team found that restaurants sold tuna sushi with higher levels of mercury than supermarkets. Bigeye tuna or lean bluefin tuna, which are more common in restaurants, had concentrations that approached or overshot by about 4% the FDA limit— of 1.0 parts per million. The study gives another reason to avoid eating bluefin, which is a threatened species, Gochfeld says. Regulatory agencies should specifically mention bluefin and bigeye tuna in mercury advisories, he says.

Yellowfin tuna, a cheaper and more plentiful species found in supermarket sushi, contained less mercury. Yet samples from all species exceeded the daily EPA limits (more conservative than those of FDA, which also incorporates the nutritional benefits of fish) and the concentrations permitted by Japan’s health ministry. What’s more, measures of mercury concentration in bigeye and yellowfin tuna samples surpassed previous FDA estimates.

Sigh....

I've consciously limited my consumption of "big fish", going for smaller tilapia and the likes. Still, I love sushi, especially tuna, even though I know these fish are under distress from over fishing. So I try to limit tuna consumption. Now this.

Maybe I just won't have tuna sushi as often anymore.

Zz.