NFI calls on Obama Administration to Update Advisory in first 100 days

December 12, 2008 Washington, DC – A Washington Post report says the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has delivered a recommendation urging the government to amend its out of date seafood advisory based on the latest science. The report says the FDA has concluded that the greatest benefits to pregnant women and women of childbearing age would come from eating more fish.

“President Elect Obama should make updating the seafood advisory a priority. While NFI has not seen this internal report, it is an issue of public health that, it appears, the FDA has spoken out clearly on,” said John Connelly, president of the National Fisheries Institute. “We believe the advisory should be amended to reflect the current state of science within the first 100 days of the Obama administration.”

An overwhelming amount of research since the advisory was last updated in 2004 suggests the real risk to women and children is not eating enough seafood. A Harvard University study released in September of ’08 highlighted the benefits of a seafood rich diet. Ground breaking research published in the Lancet in 2007 found mothers who ate the most seafood during pregnancy had children with the highest developmental outcomes. A 2006 Institute Of Medicine report encouraged women to include seafood in their diets. Harvard Center for Risk Analysis in 2005 wrote that curtailing fish consumption could lead to an increase risk of “adverse health outcomes.”

“The USDA updates its dietary guidelines for Americans every 5 years, like clockwork. It reviews the latest in nutrition science and makes recommendations. It stands to reason that the FDA/EPA would too,” said Connelly.

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