The Healthiest Tuna Sushi: Yellowfin
None of it qualifies as health food: a new study shows that all species of tuna exceed or approach mercury levels permissible in the U.S., Canada, the European Union, Japan and by the World Health Organization. Ingesting mercury definitely is not good for you. But the researchers found that Yellowfin tend to accumulate less mercury, perhaps because these fish are usually smaller than other types of tuna and are caught at a younger age. They also discovered, based on 100 samples of tuna intended for sushi and bought at 54 restaurants and 15 supermarkets in New York, New Jersey and Colorado, that supermarket tuna sushi (which tends to be yellowfin) might be healthier than sushi from restaurants. The U.S. does not require restaurants and food markets to identify the species of tuna they sell. The study was designed to determine how labeling that combines DNA bar-coding of the tuna species along with mercury content analysis might help consumers choose the healthiest fish. The study was published online on April 21, 2010 in Biology Letters.
An easy way to monitor your exposure to mercury through eating fish is to check out the free mercury calculator at http://www.gotmercury.org
Thanks for the tip, Buffy!