tinned tuna

[bobhob]

tinned tuna in oil ???? yay or nah for pregnany women??

[Newbarnsleygirl]

It's fine.

I think they just say to have 1 tin a week because of the levels of mecury in it.

[Tabs]

It's up to 2 tins or 1 fresh steak per week recommended now (think it was upped a little last year from what used to be recommended).

[Tabs]

And on the subject of fish, farmed salmon should be avoided completely.

I know you didn't ask about this, but thought I'd mention it in case you thought you'd have it instead of tuna!

[Windermere]

I had no idea about the salmon, Tabs. Does that also mean I should avoid giving it to ds? (I have not as yet but thought I might try salmon soon as he loves fish).

[purpleturtle]

what's the deal with farmed salmon?

[Tabs]

Now I can't remember if it's another mercury thing, or if it's some other pollutant or something in their food that's the problem, but my m/w specifically mentioned it when I saw her for first time last year, and again when I saw her for booking in again last week.

Windermere - not sure on giving it to DS - I haven't got as far as actually having a baby yet, so have all that to look forward to! If it's any help though I do know of plenty of other mums who've given their little ones salmon at a similar age, and as long as there aren't any bones left in it they've all been quite happy with this.

[Chuffed]

Tabs could it be growth hormone, they are pumped full of the stuff in farming.
you can get wild salmon at M&S although it is pricey.
dd has had the occasional very small amount of farmed salmon in the past (like a 1/4 of a small fillet) - no ill effects yet that I can see.

[sarahsausage]

Its a blooming good job i looked at this, i never knew about the tuna. Is this a "new" thing? was not told this when i was pregnant in 2003. Just wondering

[aloha]

There is no official advice about farmed salmon at all. I think your midwife is either misinformed or a maverick.
It is recommended to limit tuna, but not to cut it out.

[hotmama1]

I had a dd in Oct 04 and am due in Jan 06 - so my knowledge is recent. Just looked in the "Eating while you are pregnant" which is published by the Food Standards Agency - the guidance is:

"Avoid eating shark, swordfish and marlin and limit the amount of tuna that you eat. Don't eat more than 2 tuna steaks a week or 4 medium-size cans of tuna a week. This is because of the levels of mercury in these fish. At high levels, mercury can harm a baby's developing nervous system."

I got paranoid with dd and never ate any tuna when I found out I was pregnant, I am now a little more relaxed and have a couple of cans a week - tuna was a staple in my diet.

Does beg the question why tuna is banded about as being so healthy with such a health warning. HTH

[Tabs]

Aloha - I've heard it from several other people in other areas who've been told it by their midwives too, so isn't just mine.

[aloha]

Then these midwives are not offering official advice, just their own opinion. Fish oils are very important to developing babies. I agree wild salmon is nicer than farmed, however.

[Windermere]

I just did a search and it appears that the salmon scare relates to canadian research that found that scottish & Irish farmed salmon contained high levels of PCB's which can cause cancer. They are now recommending that farmed salmon should be eaten only once a week (the WHO will be changing their guidelines) and in the US the advice is to eat it only 6 times a year. I have posted the web addresses as I don't know how to post a link. Looks like it's expensive wild salmon from now on then.

www.health-report.co.uk/pcb-toxic-chemical-farmed-salmon.html

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1098564.stm