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Tell the FDA: Consumers Need to Know About Mercury Contamination

The FDA and EPA have issued an advisory directing women of child-bearing age and children to avoid or limit consumption of certain fish because of high levels of mercury. Unfortunately, this warning is not well-publicized.

Recently, instead of encouraging the posting of signs at seafood counters and on tuna shelves as Oceana has advocated, the FDA began working to prevent the state of California from using the state's right-to-know law to educate its citizens about mercury in seafood.

Sign our open letter to FDA Commissioner Dr. Andrew C. von Eschenbach today and tell him that consumers need more information about the risks posed by mercury contamination in seafood, not less!

Dr. Andrew C. von Eschenbach
Commissioner
U.S. Food and Drug Administration
5600 Fishers Lane
Rockville MD 20857

Dear Dr. von Eschenbach:

As a seafood consumer, I am very concerned about potentially dangerous levels of mercury in the seafood my family and I eat. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have issued a joint consumer advisory about methylmercury in fish and shellfish. Yet this information is poorly publicized. You do not require the posting of signs at seafood counters and on tuna shelves to warn us about your own advice. This makes it difficult for me and other shoppers to know which fish are better options to serve my family. 

In fact, I was appalled to learn that you have actually taken the opposite approach. Instead of encouraging grocery stores and tuna companies to better inform the public about the joint FDA/EPA warning, the FDA is now working to prevent the state of California from using its right to know law to educate its citizens about mercury in seafood.
 
In your agency's letter to the Attorney General of California, you argue that California should not be allowed to warn its citizens about a known health risk because the FDA has primary authority for informing Americans about the hazards posed by our food and that further communication is not helpful. You also state that the FDA has decided that issuing an advisory is preferable to warning signs and labels, saying "After years of analysis of the methylmercury in tuna issue, the agency remains convinced that the issuance of an advisory remains the preferred route for advising the public." Yet few people know about the advisory, which makes this argument hard to take seriously.

Given the FDA's responsibility to protect Americans and your support of an advisory, the question remains, why has the FDA done such a poor job of educating the public and making the advisory known? 

Instead of fighting against the lawsuit filed by the Attorney General of California, the FDA should itself require the posting of signs at seafood counters and on tuna shelves clearly stating which types of fish women and children should avoid and providing useful advice about alternatives. 

Sincerely,

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0-25 of 7269 signatures

Number	Date	Name	Location
7269	August 08, 2008	Toni Siegrist	Cambridge, MA
7268	June 22, 2008		,
7267	June 22, 2008		,
7266	April 20, 2008	laxosakd laxosakd	eunHegZZJML, NF
7265	April 04, 2008	ndoora ndoora	lctZVDfwWGerBSXaFA, OK
7264	March 21, 2008		,
7263	March 19, 2008	czuktcqglze czuktcqglze	London, TX
7262	February 28, 2008	Jonathan Frank	Washington, DC
7261	January 09, 2008	Catherine Lehmann	SAG HARBOR, NY
7260	June 13, 2007	Scott Stollenwerk	La Crosse, WI
7259	April 13, 2007		,
7258	April 13, 2007		,
7257	March 27, 2007	Connie Curnow	Bountiful, UT
7256	March 20, 2007	Amira Zayed	North Olmsted, OH
7255	March 20, 2007	ANTONIA DEJACOMO	ELMWOOD PARK, NJ
7254	March 19, 2007	D Brown	Raleigh, NC
7253	March 07, 2007	gitte santini	Jaegerspris, ot
7252	March 03, 2007	Megan Doering	Ames, IA
7251	February 17, 2007	Effie Marks	2513 SP The Hague, ot
7250	February 16, 2007	Cheryl Jones	Mechanicsburg, PA
7249	February 08, 2007	Nancy Lion-Storm	Livermore, CA
7248	February 08, 2007	Andrea Garcia	Whittier, CA
7247	February 08, 2007	JC Bower Bower	Sumner,, WA
7246	February 04, 2007		,
7245	January 31, 2007	Sandra Kinsler	Ventura, CA

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Wavemaker (n) - A person actively engaged, with Oceana, in publicy promoting positive change; specifically for the benefit of our world?s oceans.