Everyone?s had the frustration of reading something is good for you one day, then bad for you the next. The same mixed message is now being circulated about fish. On Friday, I participated in a panel discussion in Washington DC hosted by the National Consumer?s League about how to resolve this situation. We, the panelists, were asked to explore the responsibilities of journalists, researchers, and policymakers in disseminating the complex message that fish is very good for you, but some people ? namely, children and women of childbearing age -- should limit what they eat because of pollutants that can harm developing brains, such as mercury. Although the government has released guidelines on how often to eat certain types of fish, a small survey from the Center for Food, Nutrition, and Agriculture Policy (CFNAP) showed people are very confused about what fish is safe to eat, and for whom.As the...
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