Sixteen well-known restaurant chains are being sued by the state of California for allegedly failing to warn customers that their seafood contains mercury.
The lawsuits claim that the restaurants, which include Morton’s, Ruth’s Chris Steak House and Benihana, violate Proposition 65 guidelines, which require businesses to warn customers of exposure to carcinogens.
Reportedly, fresh or frozen swordfish, tuna or shark served by the restaurants contain enough mercury to require a warning. The state is seeking a requirement that the restaurants post warnings, and the chains may also face penalties of $2,500 per day for each violation.
Other restaurant chains included in the suits are Red Lobster and Olive Garden (Darden Restaurants); Chili's, Macaroni Grill and Little Italy (Brinker International); Outback and Roy's (Outback); Chart House (Landry's Restaurants); Bennigan's (Metromedia Restaurant Group); Cheesecake Factory; Hof's Hut; Claim Jumper; and P.F. Chang's China Bistro.
California attorneys noted that while they’re not trying to discourage fish consumption, the fish indicated in the lawsuit contain substances that are known to cause cancer, birth defects and reproductive damage.
The Washington Post April 12, 2003
It’s an absolute shame that most fish, which would be one of the world’s healthiest meats, are now unsafe to eat due to toxic levels of mercury.
The environment has been polluted with hundreds of millions of tons of mercury from burning coal for electricity. The mercury eventually finds its way into the waterways where it is bio-accumulated to very high levels in most fish. Generally the larger the fish, the more mercury it contains. In fact, some mercury levels in fish have been unbelievably high.
In my clinic I use hair analysis on most of my patients as a way to determine mercury levels. Anyone eating fish has mercury in their system, nearly always in direct proportion to the frequency they are eating fish--I have seen this time and time again in my practice.
However, the diets of most Americans are dangerously low in omega-3, a fat essential to good health but only found in fish oil and a few other foods.
Fortunately, you do have viable options for obtaining the nutritious benefits of fish without worrying about damaging your health with mercury. The options include regularly consuming high-quality purified fish oil like the Carlson's brand of fish oil on this site, and enjoying the absolutely delicious Alaskan wild red salmon from the one source I discovered, through independent lab-testing my team coordinated, to be mercury-free and safe.
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