A recent study conducted by the France-based organization Bloom and published in Noklapja revealed that there is serious mercury contamination in canned tuna in the European market. In laboratory analyzes performed on 148 canned tuna purchased from markets in various European countries, mercury was detected in all tested products.
57% OF PRODUCTS ARE OVER THE LIMIT VALUE
According to the study results, 57% of the canned foods examined exceeded the strictest mercury limit of 0.3 mg per kilogram set for common fish species. Although the current legal limit applied by the European Union (EU) for tuna is 1 mg/kg, Bloom reported that this limit is insufficient to reflect health risks.
In the investigations, it was determined that while the mercury concentration in two local products remained within safe limits at 0.16 and 0.21 mg/kg, these rates were much higher in many other products.
THERE ARE ALSO BRANDS THAT EXCEED THE LEGAL LIMIT BY 4 TIMES
The report stated that the highest level of mercury was found in “Petit Navire” brand canned tuna purchased from a Carrefour City store in Paris. 3.9 mg/kg mercury was detected in the product in question. This amount is not only well above the recommended level of 0.3 mg/kg, but also approximately four times the official upper limit of 1 mg/kg set by the EU for tuna. It has been recorded that three different canned food brands sold in France directly exceed the legal threshold of 1 mg/kg.
THE RISK INCREASES IN LARGE AND OLD FISH
Agriculture and food industry engineer Xavier Lefebvre stated that the accumulation of mercury in fish depends on the type of fish, the region where it was caught and its age. Experts stated that older fish are exposed to environmental mercury for a longer period of time, and that large predatory species that feed on small fish and molluscs, such as tuna, accumulate more heavy metal in their bodies compared to small and short-lived fish such as sardines. This bioaccumulation is cited as the reason why the EU has set higher limits for large fish species.
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