Experts have warned that tuna cans sold in the UK may contain a toxic metal.
A study found methylmercury, a substance linked to cancer and especially dangerous for pregnant women and children, in nearly all of the 150 tuna cans bought across France, Italy, Spain, Germany, and the UK.
The tests revealed “contamination” with the metal, which can impair brain development and cause severe lung damage, reports the Mirror.
Researchers stated that the investigation demonstrated the product poses “a colossal risk to public health” and called on governments to take “urgent” action.
Karine Jacquemart, CEO of the consumer rights organisation Foodwatch France—one of the two groups responsible for the report, stated: “What we end up with on our dinner plates is a colossal risk to public health that’s not considered seriously. We won’t give up until we have a more protective European standard.”
Current EU and UK regulations set the mercury limit at 1 mg/kg for tuna and 0.3 mg/kg for other fish, such as cod.
Foodwatch and Paris-based NGO Bloom, found that all 148 tins tested contained mercury — some 57 per cent of which exceeded the 0.3 mg/kg mercury limit.
The report said that one tin bought in a Paris Carrefour City had a record level of 3.9 mg/kg, which is 13 times the 0.3 mg/kg limit.
Bloom and Foodwatch urged the European nations to “activate a safeguard clause” to prevent the sale and promotion of products exceeding 0.3mg/kg.
They also urged governments to eliminate “all products” containing tuna from school dinner halls, nurseries, maternity wards, hospitals, and care homes.
The average European eats more than 2.8 kilograms of tuna each year, equivalent to about 25 cans. Approximately four-fifths of the mercury released into the atmosphere from natural and human activities, including coal burning, ultimately makes it way into the ocean, where tiny organisms convert it into a toxic compound called methylmercury. Because tuna are higher in the food chain, they consume smaller fish and accumulate more mercury over time.
Exposure to methylmercury can harm the kidneys and nervous system, cause vision problems, and increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.
According to the World Health Organisation, pregnant women and children are especially susceptible to high levels of methylmercury.
Studies have found that, at very high doses, certain forms of mercury have led to the development of various tumours in rats and mice.
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