Category: food and nutrition

bookmark_borderOmega Pills Do Not Work

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A new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association concludes Omega-3 pills have no effect on the health of your brain; however, eating whole seafood increases your risk mercury poisoning. The Food and Drug Administration recommends eating more low-mercury seafood.

“The hypothesis was that [the supplements] would have an effect,” study author Emily Chew tells The Salt. But “we found there was absolutely no effect on the cognitive decline in this group over time,” says Chew, who is the deputy clinical director at the National Eye Institute, part of the National Institutes of Health.

“Omega-3s [found in fish] are important, we think, because they reduce inflammation and help neurons function well,” says researcher Joseph Hibbeln of the National Institutes of Health.

Table is sorted from lowest mercury concentrations to highest:

CLAM * 0.009 0.002 0.011 ND 0.028 15 FDA 1991-2010
SCALLOP 0.003 ND 0.007 ND 0.033 39 FDA 1991-2009
ANCHOVIES 0.017 0.014 0.015 ND 0.049 14 FDA 2007-2010
SHRIMP * 0.009 0.001 0.013 ND 0.05 40 FDA 1991-2009
CRAWFISH 0.033 0.035 0.012 ND 0.051 46 FDA 1991 -2007
SQUID 0.023 0.016 0.022 ND 0.07 42 FDA 2005-2010
SARDINE 0.013 0.01 0.015 ND 0.083 90 FDA 2002-2010
TILAPIA * 0.013 0.004 0.023 ND 0.084 32 FDA 1991-2008
SALMON (CANNED) * 0.008 ND 0.017 ND 0.086 34 FDA 1992-2009
WHITING 0.051 0.052 0.03 ND 0.096 13 FDA 1991-2008
MACKEREL ATLANTIC (N.Atlantic) 0.05 N/A N/A 0.02 0.16 80 NMFS REPORT 1978
SHEEPSHEAD 0.093 0.088 0.059 ND 0.17 6 FDA 2007 – 2009
SHAD AMERICAN 0.045 0.039 0.045 0.013 0.186 13 FDA 2007-2010
MACKEREL CHUB (Pacific) 0.088 N/A N/A 0.03 0.19 30 NMFS REPORT 1978
SALMON (FRESH/FROZEN) * 0.022 0.015 0.034 ND 0.19 94 FDA 1991-2009
CROAKER ATLANTIC (Atlantic) 0.065 0.061 0.05 ND 0.193 57 FDA 2002 – 2009
HADDOCK (Atlantic) 0.055 0.049 0.033 ND 0.197 50 FDA 1991-2009
FLATFISH [2*] 0.056 0.05 0.045 ND 0.218 71 FDA 1991-2009
LOBSTER (NORTHERN / AMERICAN) 0.107 0.086 0.076 ND 0.23 9 FDA 2005-2007
OYSTER 0.012 ND 0.035 ND 0.25 61 FDA 1991-2009
TUNA (FRESH/FROZEN, SKIPJACK) 0.144 0.15 0.119 0.022 0.26 3 FDA 1993 – 2007
LOBSTER (Spiny) 0.093 0.062 0.097 ND 0.27 13 FDA 1991-2005
MULLET 0.05 0.014 0.078 ND 0.27 20 FDA 1991-2008
CARP 0.11 0.134 0.099 ND 0.271 14 FDA 1992 – 2007
MONKFISH 0.181 0.139 0.075 0.106 0.289 9 FDA 2006-2008
CATFISH 0.025 0.005 0.057 ND 0.314 57 FDA 1991-2010
WHITEFISH 0.089 0.067 0.084 ND 0.317 37 FDA 1991-2008
PERCH (Freshwater) 0.15 0.146 0.112 ND 0.325 19 FDA 1991-2007
BUTTERFISH 0.058 N/A N/A ND 0.36 89 NMFS REPORT 1978
SKATE 0.137 N/A N/A 0.04 0.36 56 NMFS REPORT 1978
HAKE 0.079 0.067 0.064 ND 0.378 49 FDA 1994-2009
CROAKER WHITE (Pacific) 0.287 0.28 0.069 0.18 0.41 15 FDA 1997
BUFFALOFISH 0.137 0.12 0.094 0.032 0.43 17 FDA 1992-2008
LOBSTER (Species Unknown) 0.166 0.143 0.099 ND 0.451 71 FDA 1991-2008
SCORPIONFISH 0.233 0.181 0.139 0.098 0.456 6 FDA 2007 – 2008
JACKSMELT 0.081 0.05 0.103 0.011 0.5 23 FDA 1997-2007
TILEFISH (Atlantic) 0.144 0.099 0.122 0.042 0.533 32 FDA 2002-04
HERRING 0.084 0.048 0.128 ND 0.56 26 FDA 2006-2009
PERCH OCEAN * 0.121 0.102 0.125 ND 0.578 31 FDA 1991-2010
CRAB [1] 0.065 0.05 0.096 ND 0.61 93 FDA 1991-2009
TROUT (FRESHWATER) 0.071 0.025 0.141 ND 0.678 35 FDA 1991 -2008
MACKEREL SPANISH (S. Atlantic) 0.182 N/A N/A 0.05 0.73 43 NMFS REPORT 1978
WEAKFISH (SEA TROUT) 0.235 0.157 0.216 0 0.744 46 FDA 1991-2005
POLLOCK 0.031 0.003 0.089 ND 0.78 95 FDA 1991-2008
TUNA (FRESH/FROZEN, ALBACORE) 0.358 0.36 0.138 ND 0.82 43 FDA 1992-2008
TUNA (CANNED, ALBACORE) 0.35 0.338 0.128 ND 0.853 451 FDA 1991-2010
TUNA (CANNED, LIGHT) 0.128 0.078 0.135 ND 0.889 551 FDA 1991-2010
MARLIN * 0.485 0.39 0.237 0.1 0.92 16 FDA 1992-1996
BASS (SALTWATER, BLACK, STRIPED) [3] 0.152 0.084 0.201 ND 0.96 82 FDA 1991-2010
COD 0.111 0.066 0.152 ND 0.989 115 FDA 1991-2010
SABLEFISH 0.361 0.265 0.241 0.09 1.052 26 FDA 2004 – 2009
ORANGE ROUGHY 0.571 0.562 0.183 0.265 1.12 81 FDA 1991-2009
GROUPER (ALL SPECIES) 0.448 0.399 0.278 0.006 1.205 53 FDA 1991-2005
TUNA (FRESH/FROZEN, Species Unknown) 0.415 0.339 0.308 0 1.3 120 FDA 1991-2010
SNAPPER 0.166 0.113 0.244 ND 1.366 67 FDA 1991-2007
BLUEFISH 0.368 0.305 0.221 0.089 1.452 94 FDA 1991-2009
TUNA (FRESH/FROZEN, YELLOWFIN) 0.354 0.311 0.231 0 1.478 231 FDA 1991-2010
HALIBUT 0.241 0.188 0.225 ND 1.52 101 FDA 1992-2009
MACKEREL SPANISH (Gulf of Mexico) 0.454 N/A N/A 0.07 1.56 66 NMFS REPORT 1978
MACKEREL KING 0.73 N/A N/A 0.23 1.67 213 GULF OF MEXICO REPORT 2000
TUNA (FRESH/FROZEN, ALL) 0.391 0.34 0.266 0 1.816 420 FDA 1991 – 2010
TUNA (FRESH/FROZEN, BIGEYE) 0.689 0.56 0.341 0.128 1.816 21 FDA 1991 – 2005
BASS CHILEAN 0.354 0.303 0.299 ND 2.18 74 FDA 1994-2010
SWORDFISH 0.995 0.87 0.539 ND 3.22 636 FDA 1990-2010
TILEFISH  (Gulf of Mexico) 1.45 N/A N/A 0.65 3.73 60 NMFS REPORT 1978
SHARK 0.979 0.811 0.626 ND 4.54 356 FDA 1990-2007

bookmark_borderArsenic-based Animal Drugs and Poultry

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U.S. Food and Drug Administration — Arsenic is in the environment as a naturally occurring substance or as a contaminant and is found in water, air, soil, and food. Published scientific reports have indicated that organic arsenic, a less toxic form of arsenic and the form present in 3-Nitro® (roxarsone), an approved animal drug, could transform into inorganic arsenic. In response, scientists from the FDA’s Center for Veterinary Medicine and the Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition developed an analytical method capable of detecting very low levels of inorganic arsenic in edible tissue.

Using the new method, FDA scientists found that the levels of inorganic arsenic in the livers of chickens treated with 3-Nitro® were increased relative to levels in the livers of the untreated control chickens.

Alpharma, a subsidiary of Pfizer, Inc., decided to voluntarily suspend sale of 3-Nitro® and to facilitate an orderly process for suspending use of the product in the United States. Ownership of the veterinary drug subsequently changed to Zoetis, Inc., who continued the suspension from sale of 3- Nitro®. On February 27, 2014, Zoetis, Inc. voluntarily withdrew the new animal drug application for 3- Nitro®. On the same day, Zoetis, Inc. and Huvepharma AD voluntarily withdrew all new animal drug approvals and supplements for 3- Nitro®, as well as arsanilic acid and carbarsone (two other arsenical new animal drugs) for use in animal feed (including all combinations with other approved new animal drugs).

On April 1, 2015, Zoetis announced that it would discontinue marketing Histostat (nitarsone), the only remaining arsenic-based animal drug on the market, by Fall 2015, and would request withdrawal of the approval for the drug by the end of 2015. Histostat (nitarsone) is approved for the prevention of histomoniasis (blackhead disease) in turkeys and chickens, and is the only approved animal drug for this indication. Histomoniasis is a disease that occurs regionally and seasonally in turkeys, and causes significant mortality. Histostat (nitarsone) will cease to be available in the 2016 growing season.

bookmark_borderGMOs Are Healthier

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Almost all GMO’s that are produced for human consumption are healthier for you than their non-GMO counterpart. For instance, colored carrots, tomatoes and potatoes are being bred to help prevent cancer.

The USDA reports:
Researchers with the Agricultural Research Service may have found the best way to entice consumers to eat their veggies: Surprise them. They’re breeding carrots that come in a palette of totally unexpected colors including yellow, dark orange, bright red–even purple.

With their flashy colors, these conventionally-bred carrots could dress up any dull meal. But what’s getting scientists’ attention is finding that the bright veggies are full of pigments with impressive health-promoting properties.

Xanthophylls give the yellow carrots their golden hues and have been linked with good eye health. Red carrots contain lycopene, a type of carotene also found in tomatoes that’s believed to guard against heart disease and some cancers.

Purple carrots owe their color to anthocyanins. In a class all by themselves, these pigments are considered to be powerful antioxidants that can guard the body’s fragile cells from the destructive effects of unstable molecules known as free radicals.

At first, Philipp Simon–the carrots’ breeder who works at the ARS Vegetable Crops Research Unit in Madison, Wis.–was unsure if these complex vegetables could provide nutrients in a form that the human body can use.

But in studies with nutritionist Sherry Tanumihardjo from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Simon found that yellow carrots’ lutein was 65 percent as bioavailable as it is from a lutein supplement. The two also discovered that lycopene from red-pigmented carrots is 40 percent as bioavailable as it is from tomato paste.

And for consumers who don’t like tomatoes, having another food source of lycopene would be good news.

Learn more: Food For Thought