Oceana : In Their Own Words

What They Tell You About:

Fish & Pregnancy

Pregnancy Oceana is frequently cited in stories about fish, nutrition and pregnancy. In its 2006 Vital Signs report, Oceana wrote that foods like fish are so "heavily contaminated with mercury that the U.S. government urges some of us not to eat them at all."

Fish & Pregnancy

What They're Not Telling You

This effort was the basis of Oceana's pressure campaign to force supermarkets and other grocers to post frightening signage at the seafood counter.

FDA and other leading science and health organizations including the Institute of Medicine (IOM) encourage eating 12 ounces of fish during pregnancy to optimize the brain and eye sight development of a new child. Only four rarely eaten fish are discouraged and only during pregnancy. But according to FDA's own data, pregnant women on average are not eating enough fish toreceive those essential benefits.

Oceana's sign campaign with its alarmist mercury warnings actually deters pregnant women and American families from the healthy diets that doctors and experts recommend.

The Tough Questions:
How does an environmental activist group, with no medical or nutrition expertise, justify giving health advice to pregnant women -- especially when it's at odds with what FDA and the Institute of Medicine have proven about the health benefits of seafood?