Media Alert

January 3, 2011, Washington, D.C. The National Fisheries Institute (NFI) is warning reporters and editors to disregard the health claims gossip websites are attributing to movie star Hilary Swank. The sites report that Swank claims to have suffered mercury poisoning from eating fish.

First and foremost, reporters should note that no peer-reviewed medical journal has ever published any evidence of a case of methylmercury poisoning caused by the normal consumption of commercial seafood in the U.S. Secondarily, despite her vague and erroneous suggestion that eating fish harmed her, even Swank herself is not alleging she had mercury poisoning.

Swank says that for the film Million Dollar Baby, “I put on 19 pounds of muscle: I was 29, I was a vegetarian and suddenly I was eating so much fish that I got elevated mercury problems.”

Major health authorities like the World Health Organization and the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization have noted that Americans dont eat enough fish, and mixed messages have the potential to make them eat even less. Doctors and dietitians suggest eating at least two servings a week, which a Harvard University study showed could prevent some 84,000 deaths each year. Seafood provides vital omega-3 fatty acids, which benefit the heart and brain.

“We already know Americans are not eating enough seafood, said Jennifer McGuire, a registered dietitian with the National Fisheries Institute. “Messages that inappropriately scare consumers away from fish because of mercury can do a real disservice to public health, said McGuire. When people eat less seafood, they miss out on a significant disease prevention opportunity.

NFI urges the media to take gossip websites with a grain of salt, and take care to report the scientific facts.

For more than 60 years, the National Fisheries Institute (NFI) and its members have provided American families with the variety of sustainable seafood essential to a healthy diet. For more information visit: www.AboutSeafood.com.

Contact Information

Gavin Gibbons
(703) 752-8891
ggibbons@nfi.org