From: “Dr. David Scarfe”
Date: 9 October 2012 17:53:53 AWST
Subject: AquaVetMed: FAO/WHO Report – Risks and Benefits of Fish Consumption
October 9, 2012
Food and Agriculture Organization of the United States/World Health Organization – Expert Consultation on the Risks and Benefits of Fish Consumption Report
Rome, Italy – Based on a request and recommendation from the FAO/WHO Food Standards Programme, Codex Alimentarius Commission, and the Codex Committee on Food Additives and Contaminants, a Joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on the Risks and Benefits of Fish Consumption (primarily focused on health risks associated with methylmercury and dioxins and dioxin-like PCBs in fish), was convened in January 2010 in Rome to provide scientific advice on how to consider the risks and benefits of fish consumption. The Consultation recommended a series of steps, such as the need to emphasize the neurodevelopment benefits to offspring from fish consumption by women of childbearing age, and the neurodevelopment risks to offspring of such women not consuming fish.
Conclusions
· Consumption of fish provides energy, protein and a range of essential nutrients.
· Eating fish is part of the cultural traditions of many peoples. In some populations, fish is a major source of food and essential nutrients.
· Among the general adult population, consumption of fish, particularly fatty fish, lowers the risk of coronary heart disease mortality. There is an absence of probable or convincing evidence of coronary heart disease risks of methylmercury. Potential cancer risks of dioxins are well below established coronary heart disease benefits.
· Among women of childbearing age, pregnant women and nursing mothers, considering benefits of docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) versus risks of methylmercury, fish consumption lowers the risk of suboptimal neurodevelopment in their offspring compared with not eating fish in most circumstances evaluated.
· At levels of maternal dioxin exposure (from fish and other dietary sources) that do not exceed the provisional tolerable monthly intake (PTMI), neurodevelopmental risk is negligible. At levels of maternal dioxin exposure (from fish and other dietary sources) that exceed the PTMI, neurodevelopmental risk may no longer be negligible.
· Among infants, young children and adolescents, evidence is insufficient to derive a quantitative framework of health risks and benefits. However, healthy dietary patterns that include fish consumption and are established early in life influence dietary habits and health during adult life.
Recommendations
To minimize risks in target populations, the Expert Consultation recommends that Member States should:
· Acknowledge fish as an important food source of energy, protein and a range of essential nutrients and fish consumption as part of the cultural traditions of many peoples;
· Emphasize the benefits of fish consumption on reducing coronary heart disease mortality (and the risks of mortality from coronary heart disease associated with not eating fish) for the general adult population;
· Emphasize the net neurodevelopmental benefits to offspring of fish consumption by women of childbearing age, particularly pregnant women and nursing mothers, and the neurodevelopmental risks of not consuming fish to offspring of such women;
· Develop, maintain and improve existing databases on specific nutrients and contaminants, particularly methylmercury and dioxins, in fish consumed in their region;
· Develop and evaluate risk management and communication strategies that both minimize risks and maximize benefits from eating fish.
The further information on the Consultation and the full report can be downloaded from http://tinyurl.com/99ouxol.
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