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Food And Water Watch Releases 2010 Smart Seafood Guide

In the Pan (photo by Beglib, courtesy of morgueFile.com)

The new guide considers the socio-economic impact of consuming seafood and warns against turning to imported fish post-Gulf spill.

The national consumer advocacy group Food & Water Watch has just released its 2010 Smart Seafood Guide to direct consumers in making safer, more sustainable seafood decisions. This year, researchers analyzed over 100 types of seafood (60% more than in 2009) to create the only guide assessing not only the human health and environmental impacts of eating certain seafood, but also the socio-economic impacts on coastal and fishing communities.

In their 2010 guide, Food & Water Watch highlighted what they refer to as the “Dirty Dozen” — species that fail to meet two or more of their criteria for safe and sustainable seafood. This year, the worst offender was imported coastal-farmed shrimp. According to the guide, the shrimp mostly come from countries where health, safety, labor and environmental standards are much weaker than in the U.S. This often means the shrimp were raised in crowded, dirty farms, and doused with assorted chemicals, antibiotics and pesticides, some of which are illegal to use in the U.S.

Gulf Oil Spill Raises Food Safety Concerns

“The guide comes at a critical time. We’ve been fielding countless questions from consumers on seafood safety after the Gulf oil spill,” said Marianne Cufone, Food & Water Watch’s Fish Program Director. “Unfortunately, because of the spill, many people are considering imported seafood as a safer alternative to domestic. Often, it’s not.

The guide not only educates consumers on seafood selection, but also offers information on U.S. seafood production and regulation. For instance:

• Less than 2% of imported seafood is inspected.

• Over 70% of domestic shrimp and about 60% of domestic oysters came from the Gulf of Mexico prior to the spill.

• The average consumer eats around 16 pounds of seafood annually, about 4 pounds of which is shrimp.

Guiding Consumers Away from Unhealthy Choices

The guide steers consumers away from certain types of seafood like fish raised in factory farm conditions that pose threats to both the marine ecosystem and public health; unregulated imports; depleted fish (like bluefin tuna); and fish more likely to contain harmful contaminants like mercury and PCB (like swordfish).

The guide is offered as an online tool for consumers searching for seafood based on taste or U.S. region of origin. In addition, Food & Water Watch has developed a smaller, printed version for consumers to reference before making a purchase at markets or restaurants.

“It’s really the most consumer friendly guide out there,” Cufone said. “We’re not telling you what to eat. We’re providing you with important information so that you can make safer, more sustainable seafood choices based on your own personal tastes and priorities.”

About Food & Water Watch

The nonprofit organization works to ensure the food, water and fish we consume is safe, accessible and sustainable. So we can all enjoy and trust in what we eat and drink, it helps people take charge of where their food comes from, keep clean, affordable, public tap water flowing freely to our homes, protect the environmental quality of oceans, force government to do its job protecting citizens, and educate about the importance of keeping shared resources under public control.

To learn more about the nonprofit organization’s new guide to sustainable seafood, go to: Food & Water Watch

For more information on the Gulf spill’s impact on the availability of certain seafood items listed on the 2010 Smart Seafood Guide, check the latest government updates at:

U.S. Food & Drug Administration

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

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