Fish danger not revealed say Greens

Herald Picture / Paul Estcourt

By CATHERINE MASTERS

That weekly feed of battered fish buried in a pile of chips could take its toll on your health - and not just because of the fat content, says the Green Party.

Health spokeswoman Sue Kedgley is concerned that a Ministry of Health report, the Total Diet Survey, found high levels of mercury in some fish and high levels of the metal cadmium in Bluff oysters.

Ms Kedgley says the ministry has failed to point out the information to the public, which has a right to know that high levels of the cumulative toxins can be dangerous.

She says one meal a week of larger fish such as shark (or lemon fish) could add up to too much, especially for pregnant women and infants.

The larger the fish, the more mercury it is likely to have accumulated in its body. Mercury can disrupt the developing central nervous system.

As for oyster lovers, the Total Diet Survey found oysters from Bluff were over the cadmium limit because of high levels of naturally occurring cadmium in Foveaux Strait.

Too much cadmium can damage kidneys and bones.

"We don't want to be alarmist," said Ms Kedgley last night.

"I mean, fish are very good nutritionally and so forth. But I think consumers have a right to know, and because information might be a bit alarming is no reason to conceal it."

The ministry disputes that the average New Zealander should cut back to less than one meal of battered fish a week, and says only Bluff oyster "binge eaters" need be concerned about cadmium.

Dr Bob Boyd, the ministry's chief adviser of safety and regulation, said the report had been made public and had not concealed anything.

He agreed pregnant women and infants should not eat too much of the larger fish.

"But when talking about a weekly visit to the fish and chip shop rather than having fish as a staple diet, the chance of getting to levels that are above the provisional tolerable intake - it's just not possible."

He said some of the samples of fish tested did exceed the current New Zealand standard for mercury but there had been an ongoing debate about whether the level was set too low.

Australia's level was twice that of New Zealand's, he said.

"So that would mean all Australian fish and chips were unsafe, and that's just not so."

However, the ministry was likely to issue advice or warnings to Bluff oyster lovers not to binge too often, said Dr Boyd.

Not all takeaways sell shark and other fish that are high in mercury.

Dolly Semu, manager of Epsom Fresh Fish and Chips, said many of her customers were pretty aware of the problem and requested low-mercury fish.

She feared the advice from the Green Party because it would probably mean a drop in sales.

"We had something like that in the papers last year and it dropped sales by 20 per cent."