Myths and Facts about Posting Mercury Signs

  • Myth: Posting signs about mercury at the seafood counter will cause people to stop eating fish.

  • Fact: Posting signs is a common sense solution. Customers want to cut through the clutter and know which fish women of childbearing age and children should avoid, which in turn helps them buy other, healthier fish. Major grocery chains like Safeway, Wild Oats, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's, SuperValu's Albertsons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw's and Acme are already posting signs. Wild Oats saw no economic impact on these species of fish, and overall, has actually seen an increase in seafood sales since they began posting.

  • Myth: Contaminated fish cannot be legally sold.

  • Fact: FDA does not pull fish off the market when they exceed the warning levels. In fact, most fish are not even tested to determine the level of mercury they contain prior to being sold. FDA advisories are based on a limited amount of testing data, and the result of high mercury levels is simply to issue an advisory, not to pull fish out of the stores.

  • Myth: Stores can't post signs like this unless the health department tells them to. 

  • Fact: Stores can post this information and they do!  A number of stores that care about protecting their customers' health are posting the FDA mercury advice in all of their stores, including Safeway, Wild Oats, Whole Foods, Trader Joe's and SuperValu's Albertsons.  Some stores may need permission from their corporate headquarters to post a sign but they don't need it from the government.

  • Myth: Most people already know everything they need to about mercury.

  • Fact: The public knows very little about mercury contamination.  In a poll of 800 randomly chosen respondents from all 50 states, only 34 percent of respondents indicated that contamination of fresh tuna and swordfish is a serious problem.  You can check out the full results of the poll. 

  • Myth: Environmental groups like Oceana just want people to stop eating fish.

  • Fact: Actually, the opposite is true. Oceana and other groups recognize that fish are an important part of a healthy diet. Oceana is concerned about public health and ocean health, which are both put in jeopardy by mercury contamination. People should continue to eat fish. They should be able make educated decisions as to which fish to purchase, and signs communicating the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advice at the seafood counter can help them do that. Oceana is also working to eliminate a major source of mercury pollution, mercury-cell chlorine plants, to help reduce mercury in fish, so that fish can remain an important part of our diets. 






Check out our general Mercury Myths and Facts for more information.


*Disclaimer: Oceana is not affiliated with any company on these lists.

Green List

Is Your Grocer Green?

The Food and Drug Administration and the Environmental Protection Agency have warned women of child-bearing age to avoid or limit consumption of seafood with high mercury content.