Study Finds Dining Hall Tuna Could Be 'Unsafe'

Crossroads offers tuna that could be considered hazardous due to high mercury levels, according to a study conducted by Defenders of Wildlife in 2006.

According to the study, all of the "chunk light" tuna-which comprises all species of tuna other than albacore-canned in Ecuador tested for mercury concentrations ranging from 0.3 ppm to over 0.9 ppm. This entire range of mercury concentration is labeled "high mercury" by the Food and Drug Administration.

The particular type of tuna that is available to students in the sandwich bar at the campus dining commons is Starkist Chunk Light tuna, which contains both the skipjack and yellowfin species of tuna and is canned primarily in Ecuador.

The study, entitled "Is Our Tuna 'Family-Safe'? Mercury in America's Favorite Fish," tested the mercury levels of more than 100 cans of tuna, many of which belonged to name brands such as Chicken of the Sea and Starkist.

The study also discovered that "as many as one out of every 20 cans of the light tuna we tested could warrant recall as unsafe for human consumption."

Currently, the FDA's established mercury "action level," or the level of mercury contamination at which point the government can legally remove the product from the market, is 1.0 part per million for fish and other types of seafood. The mercury levels found in many of the tuna cans tested by Defenders of Wildlife were even higher than 1.0 ppm.

Yellowfin tuna, the type of tuna offered by Crossroads and the other dining commons, is listed as a fish to "avoid," according to the Seafood Guide of the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch Program, because it was found to contain high levels of contaminants and because yellowfin tuna fishing was found to not be ecologically sustainable.

Ida Shen, executive chef at Crossroads, said that although the dining facility does not currently offer the best seafood choices in terms of mercury levels and sustainability, efforts are being made to ensure that the quality improves, including looking for ways to utilize more wild salmon and other types of fish that are either wild-caught or from sustainable fisheries.

"In terms of our sustainability in seafood, it is something that we're striving for," she said. "Whenever we can, we try to bring in Alaskan salmon, because that's pretty much guaranteed wild-caught and Alaska itself as a state has a very sustainable seafood harvesting practice."

Shen said the higher price of more ecologically sustainable seafood is the main reason why Crossroads and the other dining commons do not currently offer better options.

"If we were to go completely wild (in terms of Alaskan salmon)-and especially after what's happened with the Californian wild salmon-we just can't afford that price with the number of students that we have in an all-you-care-to-eat environment," Shen said.

Kylee Darcy, student representative of the Greek community on a Cal Dining committee, said she believes UC Berkeley's dining facilities should take extra measures to increase consumer awareness about their seafood choices.

"It's definitely an important issue," Darcy said. "I think that it would be really valuable if there was more information available to the students at their dining commons about the sustainability and levels of mercury in the fish that they have there."

Jane Hightower, a doctor of internal medicine at the California Pacific Medical Center in San Francisco and an author of many studies on the health implications of mercury in seafood, said that because of the relatively little amount of information available on the health consequences of mercury consumption through seafood, more people may be at risk, adding that college students are on the list of those potentially at risk.

"(Those consequences) can be anxiety, insomnia, depressed feelings, agitation and muscle and body aches, it's really hard to go to class when you're feeling that way," Hightower said. "A lot of college kids will resort to the canned tuna because it's cheap and easy to eat, and they are people at risk."

While Cal Dining officials said they are looking into healthier and more sustainable seafood options, the study by the Defenders of Wildlife makes one thing clear: there's something fishy going on in the seafood aisles of American supermarkets.

Tags: CROSSROADS, TUNA