I don’t know if any of you saw this misguided mess on U.S. News and World Report’s site, but a blog called Fresh Greens claims to be looking out for consumers by naming 10 risky foods. Unfortunately she didn’t risk doing much research:

She says Farmed Salmon is “risky” because of PCB’s. But fails to mention that seafood as a whole, not just salmon (farmed or wild), makes up 9% of the PCB’s found in the American diet. Dairy products make up 30%, beef, chicken and pork make up 34% and vegetables make up 20%. This fundamental misunderstanding about PCB’s in fish has lead to virtual hysteria about an issue that is far more consequential for the most commonly consumed food categories.

Her next target is Chilean Sea Bass, labeled “risky” based on its mercury content. But omitted from the posting is the fact that the mercury in seafood controversy is quickly being put into perspective by peer reviewed scientific reports like the one released by the FDA on January 21st. Researchers from places like Harvard Medical School are concluding that the real risk to American public health is in not eating enough seafood. The very latest independent science shows that any concerns associated with the trace amounts of mercury in fish are outweighed by the clear and demonstrable benefits. Americans have a woefully inadequate diet when it comes to omega-3’s because we eat 16.3 lbs of seafood a year and 109 lbs of red meat.

And of course Bluefin tuna makes the list. But she only gets the story half right on that one. Mediterranean Bluefin is being overfished and action needs to be taken right now to stop irreparable harm from being done to this stock. Is it risky from a global sustainability standpoint-sure you could call it “risky” if that’s the vernacular you ant to use. However, when it comes to U.S. consumption coupled with the often-hyped mercury issue people should keep in mind that per capita Americans eat about the weight of a paperclip in Bluefin every year. So, if you’re devoting blog space to suggesting people cut back on or avoid foods that might be “risky” it might be hard to trim something that already only makes up less than 1/20 of one percent of the seafood eaten in the United States annually.

For the past few weeks I’ve said the main stream media is getting better about its reporting on seafood and seafood science. Now, we’ve got to make sure bloggers under the cover of main stream media mastheads don’t slip into that cyber-stereotype of pajama clad nerds typing away in the basement of their parent’s home posting half truth and under researched opinion as fact.