USDA Urged to Drop Tuna from WIC Program
Health
Groups Urge USDA to Drop Canned Tuna from WIC
GotMercury.Org Supporters Ask for Low-Mercury
Canned Fish Alternatives for Mothers
FOREST KNOLLS, CA (October 31,
2006) Health groups around the country are urging
the USDA to no longer offer canned tuna in the
WIC program because of mercury risks. WIC, the
Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women,
Infants, and Children run by the US Department
of Agriculture (USDA), currently exposes breastfeeding
mothers and their nursing infants to mercury in
canned tuna when healthier options exist. The
health groups are urging this recommendation during
the USDA comment period on WIC food package changes,
which ends next week on November 6.
"The USDA should take commonsense precautionary
measures to avoid exposing mothers who breastfeed
and their nursing infants from the high and varying
levels of mercury in canned tuna," said Eli
Saddler, public health analyst for GotMercury.Org.
"Low-income families deserve canned wild
salmon, mackerel, anchovies, or sardines that
the FDA reports have a fraction of the mercury
that even light tuna contains. No one needs pollution
on their plate when there are healthier alternatives."
The USDA estimates that about 252,572 women exclusively
breastfeed as part of WIC's Food Package VII program.
Canned fish is included as an incentive for breastfeeding
mothers. The USDA plans to increase the canned
fish amount from 26 ounces a month to 30 ounces
a month. While the USDA plans to end the use of
canned albacore tuna because of mercury risks,
it is still considering the use of light tuna
in the program. There are no federal standards
regulating what can be sold as "light tuna"
so it can refer to lower-mercury skipjack tuna,
but can also include high-mercury yellowfin or
bigeye tuna.
The Institute of Medicine estimated that there
is only a two-cent difference per ounce between
canned tuna and canned salmon, demonstrating a
small investment would give mothers more Omega-3
fatty acids and with limited mercury exposure.
Scientists estimate that mercury exposure causes
billions of dollars in annual costs to the US
due to lower IQs and other health problems caused
by methylmercury, the organic neurotoxin found
in some fish. Tuna, like other fish that are long-lived
and grow large, bioaccumulate methylmercury as
goes up the food chain.
GotMercury.Org has been organizing consumers to
submit their comments before November 6 at http://GotMercury.Org/WIC
so that mothers and infants can have healthier
canned fish options and that the USDA will remove
canned tuna from the WIC program.
"The public has sent hundreds of emails to
the USDA asking them to stop putting low-income
moms and infants at risk of mercury exposure by
only offering canned tuna," Saddler continued.
"When healthier and sometimes cheaper options
are available, all taxpayers should speak out
to end subsidizing tuna companies while continuing
an environmental injustice to low-income families."
GotMercury.Org has made the following requests
to the USDA regarding canned fish in the WIC Food
Package VII program:
1. Removal of all canned tuna from the WIC program.
2. Require states to offer alternative canned
fish options without the ability to opt out.
3. Require states to provide mercury-in-seafood
education to empower mothers to make informed
decisions about the risks of mercury and the benefits
of healthy seafood choices.
Available Resources:
1. Consumers can calculate their mercury exposure
from seafood: http://GotMercury.Org
2. B-roll of mercury in seafood images.
3. Electronic Press Kit: http://GotMercury.Org/press
or http://GotMercury.Org/info
4. Interviews with mercury poisoned women and
children available.
5. FDA and EPA Consumer Advisory on Methylmercury
in Fish: http://GotMercury.Org/fda
About GotMercury.Org:
GotMercury.Org is a public health education campaign
to protect consumers from mercury in seafood and
to encourage healthier, safer choices. GotMercury.Org
is an online calculator that uses the EPA formula
for mercury exposure with the FDA published data
on seafood mercury levels. The GotMercury.Org
campaign has worked to increase posting of mercury-in-seafood
advisories in restaurants and supermarkets, first
in California under Proposition 65 and later through
partnerships and grassroots consumer efforts.
GotMercury.Org's campaign last year led to Safeway
posting mercury advisories nationally. In November,
Bon Appétit Management Company, in
partnership with GotMercury.Org will launch a
national campaign to educate consumers in their
400 cafés nationally. GotMercury.Org
has tested mercury in sushi tuna across the US,
receiving national and international media attention
about the risks to consumers.
Public
Health Analyst for GotMercury.Org
Contact: Eli Saddler
(415) 488-0370 x.104
eli@gotmercury.org