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Original poster

Tuna - another "no go" food!

37 replies

Sam29 · 21/02/2003 11:00

Did anyone else hear in snippet on the news this week about high levels of mercury in tuna which mean it is not recommended for pregnant or breastfeeding mums?
As someone who is veggie and eats a lot of tuna and relies on it for easy healthy meals, sandwiches etc I am a bit concerned about having to try to remove it from my cupboards!
Anyone got definitive info on this?

OP posts:
Claireandrich · 21/02/2003 11:04

I heard this on the news some time ago - missed the most recent one. Actually the first time it might have been smoked salmon. I think in small amounts and not every day it is probably fine though, otherwise we would have such a limited diet left over! Sorry, don't have any hard facts though.

Marina · 21/02/2003 11:14

You're right, it's the mercury levels in it, Sam. They recommend not more that two tins of tuna or one fresh steak per week for pregnant or breastfeeding women. There have been previous warnings about heavy metals in oily fish but this was a new one.
I'm not veggie but enjoy tuna a lot, so share your dismay. At least we have not been told to cut it out completely.

suedonim · 21/02/2003 11:17

This is the Food Standards Agency site, which has info about what to avoid. HTH.

Clarinet60 · 21/02/2003 15:50

It's good advice, but I share your sadness as we eat a lot of tuna too. Due to biological magnification, there can be loads of heavy metals concentrated in the fats of such fish. As I remember it, the tiny stuff (plankton etc) might only absorb one particle of mercury, but if a bigger fish comes along and eats 100 planktons, they get loads of particles. Then if an even bigger fish comes along and eats loads of those fish ... and so on and so on up the food chain, and by the time it reaches us, the amounts can be significant.
Someone with more recent biol/ecol might be able to explain it better.

janh · 21/02/2003 17:26

I think I read that sardines are an OK substitute, Sam29 - esp. if you drain most of the oil off. (Not the skinless boneless ones though.) If you mash them up with a bit of vinegar and lemon juice they make lovely sandwiches. Well, they do if you like them!

You shouldn't have any fish more than 3 times a week these days (but that's 3 times a week more than most people eat it) and you can have 2 oily and 1 white. Or the other way round.

Original poster
Sam29 · 22/02/2003 17:02

Thanks for that - is it two of the little tins or two big tins??? And then yesterday they say cut your coffee out as well - am very glad I don't drink it otherwise I would be feeling very hard done by this week! :-)

OP posts:
PamT · 22/02/2003 18:08

Unfortunately the coffee thing was caffeine - which also means cola, chocolate and tea. Are pregnant women allowed anything these days?

Wills · 22/02/2003 18:13

I never get it with tea. Sometimes I read things saying there is more caffine in tea than coffee and then other articles say the opposite! Can anone put me straight.

SueW · 22/02/2003 18:21

The Food Standards Agency website link further down) has the caffeine amounts (avg) per mug/cup of coffee/tea etc broken down. It gives examples which mix and match say, 3x 50g bars of chocolate with 4 cups of tea, one mug of instant and one cup of brewed coffee.

IIRC the current guidelines on there are 300mg per day; I think the coffee study referred to an intake of 800g per day which is almost 3 times as much.

I'm just about to cover food guidelines/healthy eating in pregnancy in my training and have devised a presentation based around women's problems with choosing what to eat.

Wills · 22/02/2003 18:23

SueW - presentation for what?

janh · 22/02/2003 18:44

Decaffeinated tea is lovely - I started drinking it when I was pg because ordinary tea was giving me awful heartburn and we always have it now - recommend it for anyone who wants to cut back.

aloha · 22/02/2003 18:52

Tea definitely has less caffeine than coffee - and fresh brewed coffee has more caffeine than instant. I think tea has about half as much as coffee and definitely less. I had to look this up for a feature once but can't remember the exact amounts in grammes.

I think you'd have to eat an awful lot of tuna to over the levels recommended - I think it was six rounds of sandwiches. Only applies when pregnant though.

SueW · 22/02/2003 18:54

Wills, I'm training to be an antenatal teacher but the presentation I'll be making is to my fellow students in my tutorial. Don't want to let the cat out of the bag too much in case any of them are reading

aloha · 22/02/2003 18:57

I mean, I believe its absolutely fine to stuff yourself while bfeeding.

SueW · 22/02/2003 18:58

BTW, FSA do a booklet you can download and print off.

GeorginaA · 22/02/2003 19:11

Do remember that decaffeinated does not mean no caffeine though It's just reduced caffeine...

Marina · 22/02/2003 19:23

I switched to Redbush tea while ttc and have developed a real taste for it. Because it's naturally slightly sweeter than ordinary tea and caffeine-free, even ds1 (aged 3) enjoys a milky cup with us. I can really recommend it.

sueanna · 22/02/2003 20:39

Did you know..... an easy way to remove caffeine from tea is to pour a small amount of boiling water on your teabag (enough to cover the bag), then throw away the tea after about 20 secs, then make your tea as normal (with the same teabag of course).
Apparently caffeine is the first thing to come out of the teabag.
I'm sure it doesn't get rid of ALL the caffeine, but it's a good start if you don't want to get rid of all your 'nice' tea.
Before you ask, I saw this on a health information program in Oz.

Wills · 22/02/2003 20:45

Sueanna - interesting one, I'll try it although I'm not sure my work canteen ladies will put up with that during the week.

Another question. I have a distinct desire for eggs, the more yolk the better. I know you're not supposed to have fried egg but is that because of the potential uncooked white on the top or is it because the yolk is still runny. To make it simpler - if I flipped a fried egg but managed to keep the yolk runny - would that suffice?

janh · 22/02/2003 20:55

Bad news, Wills! The white isn't a problem, it's the yolk that needs to be cooked, though maybe if you flipped it and left it until the yolk was nearly set that would be OK.

Or else if there are any guaranteed salmonella-free eggs out there (?) they could be runny.

Wills · 22/02/2003 20:57

Possibly that one's worth pursuing. I really want runny eggs!! Nothing like not being able to have it to make me wait it

WideWebWitch · 22/02/2003 20:58

yes, that's my understanding too. The first thing I ate after ds was born was a longed-for 4 minute boiled egg with a runny yolk.

GeorginaA · 22/02/2003 23:12

I point blank refused to avoid runny yolk eggs during pregnancy... my reasoning was that I'd never had food poisoning for an egg ever (yet from a beefburger I have... twice - and they're not "banned"!) so I wasn't going to cut them out. Enjoyed lots of poached, soft-boiled and fried eggs throughout the 9 months

robinw · 23/02/2003 08:12

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