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Fishscam.com: Don’t Worry About Mercury in Fish*

Fishscam TMany consumers are concerned about the cumulative health effects of eating certain fish because of its possible mercury content.

This ad says there is no reason to worry unless you are eating a lot of whale meat.

The only identification of the source of this ad is at the bottom: fishscam.com

Who is behind “fishscam”?

*MOUSE PRINT:  Fishscam is part of a nonprofit called the Center for Consumer Freedom.  Sounds like a conventional consumer group, right? Not exactly. While they do have individuals who are members, they list restaurants and food companies first as members of their coalition.  [US News, March 27, 2006]

That is not to say that restaurants and food companies don’t have legitimate gripes about junk science, or other matters they have weighed in about (such as the ‘McDonald’s made me fat’ lawsuits).

In any event, health claims are very hard for consumers to evaluate. It seems like one day a study says that certain foods are bad for you, and the next day another study says they are not problematic at all. Who and what can you believe?

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3 thoughts on “Fishscam.com: Don’t Worry About Mercury in Fish*”

  1. The concentration of mercury in fish becomes higher as you move up the food chain. Even the EPA says “Do not eat Shark, Swordfish, King Mackerel, or Tilefish because they contain high levels of mercury.” Albacore consumption should be limited. Info here:
    http://www.epa.gov/ost/fishadvice/advice.html

    Salon.com did a couple of good articles on mercury in fish as well:
    http://dir.salon.com/story/tech/feature/2004/11/17/waste_dump/index.html
    http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2005/04/18/mercury/index.html

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