Consumers Union

What They Tell You About:

Fish and Pregnancy

In June 2006, Dr. Rangan first led Consumer Reports to recommend that pregnant women eliminate tuna from their diet, contradicting both science and medical advice that suggested the opposite.

Fish and Pregnancy

What They're Not Telling You

A study by ALSPAC, The Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children at England's Bristol University, published in The Lancet, concluded that pregnant women needed to eat more fish, not less. They "recorded beneficial effects on child development with maternal seafood intakes of more than 340 g per week." That finding led them to determine that limits, such as those advised by the FDA "could actually be detrimental." Their results showed "that risks from the loss of nutrients were greater than the risks of harm from exposure to trace contaminants" in normal weekly servings of fish like tuna.

The Tough Questions:
Why did Consumers Union take the radical step of advising mothers to cut tuna out of their diet completely when the latest science shows that decision might actually hurt the developmental health of their unborn children?