UAE | Health
Big portions of big fish can cause big problems
If you are very fond of eating big fish, it is time to eat smaller portions, warns a food safety expert.
- By Binsal Abdul Kader, Staff Reporter
- Published: 01:05 February 23, 2008
- Image Credit: Abdul Rahman/Gulf News
- An Australian expert says that 100 grammes of big fish twice a week is safe but anything more than that is not advisable. The picture used is for illustrative purposes only.
Abu Dhabi: If you are very fond of eating big fish, it is time to eat smaller portions, warns a food safety expert.
If you eat too much of bigger fishes like Tuna and King Fish, it could cause neurological problems as they have high content of mercury, according to Dr John Summer, technical advisor of food safety at Meat and Livestock Australia, a research and development organisation in Australia.
He spoke to Gulf News on the sidelines of a workshop on food safety at Abu Dhabi Food Control Authority.
He explained how an Australian student, who ate big fish more than 20 times a week, fell seriously ill recently.
She ate the fish after reading about the health advantages of eating fish, but she had to undergo continuous treatment to flush out the mercury from her body, he said.
Irreversible damage
Overdose of mercury in the body can cause irreversible brain damage, he warned.
He said all big fish like Tuna and King Fish contain a negligible amount of mercury which can be absorbed by the body. But it can become an "infectious dose" if overeaten, he said.
Summer explained that the actual content of mercury in big fishes is one part of a million gram (of the big fish), which is harmless in the normal course.
"But its consolidation in the body with repeated intakes causes problems," he said.
He said 100 grammes of big fish twice a week is safe, but more than that is not advisable.
The brain damage caused by mercury poisoning can lead to serious neurological diseases which are also known as Minamata disease.
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