April 24, 2014

Meredith Artley

Managing Editor

CNN Digital

VIA Email

Dear Ms. Artley,

I am writing to express concern about the article 5 ‘healthy’ foods that can backfire. CNN.com notes that the content was generated by your sister site upwave.com. Of course, from a journalism perspective, CNN.com is responsible for the accuracy of whatever content appears on its site.

The article in question claims sushi with raw seafood can be putting consumers at risk based on exposure to a toxic heavy metal called mercury. This is inaccurate and the source of the information is cited as the Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC.)

NRDC is not an appropriate source for scientifically based nutrition advice. In fact, a May 2009 survey of toxicologists conducted by The Center for Health Risk Communication at George Mason University found that 79% of professional toxicologists believe that NRDC overstates the health risks of chemicals. Following the announcement of that survey, NRDC’s Health and Environment Program, declared: “We’re an advocacy group and we don’t hold ourselves out as scientific researchers. We don’t do peer reviewed science. Everybody knows that.”

Meanwhile, the most up to date, published, peer-reviewed USDA/FDA Dietary Guidelines state that, the benefits of consuming seafood far outweigh the risks. Whats more, there are no cases of mercury poisoning as a result of the normal consumption of commercial seafood in any published peer-reviewed medical journals.

Suggesting that eating healthy seafood can backfire on consumers is not only inaccurate it is reckless and is not based on science but rather on rhetoric from an organization that openly states it does not hold [it]self out as scientific researchers and doesnt do peer reviewed science.”

While I am not certain just what the journalism standards are for a site designed to entertain the health into you, I am certain of the standard CNN uses. With this in mind we ask you to edit or remove this article from your website.

Thank you for your attention to accuracy.

Gavin Gibbons

Vice President, Communications

National Fisheries Institute

cc Ashley Hayes

Senior Producer

Health & Medicine