We live in a strange time when the environment is irreversibly changing, but no one wants to notice it. Here are some of my favorites healthy foods become toxic and dangerous, and no one cares - in appearance, they remained as they were. First of all, this applies to fish and seafood, because poor ecology affects them the fastest and most destructively. At the same time, the fish itself can live and reproduce happily, but those who want to eat it are in really serious danger. So which fish species should you avoid and why?
- Catfish -
If the catfish was not caught by your dad, a fisherman in a pond in the country, then it will almost certainly be stuffed with antibiotics. Such is the specificity of growing this fish. This is especially true in Vietnam, where a lot of semi-finished products are made from catfish. At the same time, there is no mark on the packages that the fish was grown in such conditions, and the effect of antibiotics on your body after consuming such a product will be a surprise.
- Sturgeon caviar -
Black caviar is an expensive pleasure in our latitudes. It is all the more disappointing to learn that this product has recently been subjected to the destructive influence of changes. environment. Sturgeon breeds of fish are bred in crowded and polluted water due to the construction of dams. And since caviar matures for a relatively long time before it can be removed, it absorbs all toxins and pesticides very well. It turns out that really useful caviar can now be obtained only by poaching. But it's better not to participate.
- Cod -
World cod stocks generally collapsed back in the mid-90s. And this fact could not but affect the overall quality of this fish. If you see Atlantic cod on store shelves, you should know that this is either a misrepresentation, because there has long been a crisis in the Atlantic regarding this fish due to negligence in fisheries management. Or you are offered one of the rare specimens caught there. Most likely, fish meat is overloaded with harmful substances.
- Acne -
Meat, without which almost no dish of Asian cuisine can do, turns out to be extremely unsafe for health. Polychlorinated biphenyls accumulate in Ugra. And if the eerie sound of the term doesn't convince you, just know that this substance is extremely damaging to the liver and kidneys, and can also cause cancer. Its toxicity is detrimental not only in itself, but also in its ability to accumulate in adipose tissue.
- Shrimps -
90% of the shrimp sold in our stores are imported to our country from Denmark and Canada, despite the fact that Russia itself supplies a lot of this seafood to the world market. So here it is chemical substances, which are used by Western companies to clean them after capture, are quite harmful. In addition, the shrimp is cooked directly on fishing boats and frozen there. Therefore, in the packaging you can often find extraneous fragments - hair, pieces of insects and even rat tails.
- flounder -
The population of Atlantic flounder is now in such a deplorable state that it is only 1% of the amount of fish that would be enough for a sustainable industrial fishery. All individuals are contaminated with pesticides and, due to the small population, are not suitable for consumption.
- Salmon -
Due to the peculiar nutrition of this animal, its meat can be infected with bacteria dangerous to humans, which cause loss of vision and hearing. Also, toxins can accumulate in the crab, which cause poisoning. Recently, due to not too tight control of production, this danger has increased.
- Shark -
Shark meat is a delicacy for our latitudes. And that seems to be for the best. Due to the peculiar diet of this fish and due to the fact that it is the most aggressive predator that eats everything in its path, it can be a carrier of large doses of mercury. Mercury accumulates in meat, without harming the shark itself, but it is quite capable of harming a person who eats it.
- Atlantic bighead -
A recent analysis showed that of all fish species, it is tuna that has the highest mercury deposits. In addition, the tuna population, for example, in the Atlantic Ocean, is already on the verge of extinction. And if its overconsumption is not stopped, soon we will not have any tuna - neither mercury nor pure.
- Seabass -
Sea bass, or sea bass - especially Chilean - is most often illegally caught fish that has not passed proper sanitary control. Despite the fact that this is the main restaurant hit, you should not completely trust its quality.
The site helps to choose fish and seafood that are the least contaminated with heavy metals. It is also intended for those who prefer to eat food that does not harm the environment, so some types of fish for which there is no medical data are mentioned there simply because their farming does not harm the environment. Be careful and look for information about the degree of infection!
Upd: For readers from Russia: this site contains not only American information, it also mentions many species of fish that are caught in Russia. By default, the fish of the Russian catch is considered to be more contaminated, because Russia does not comply with international standards and does not allow inspectors, but in this case the breed decides, so if the fish does not accumulate mercury, then it will not accumulate it in Russia either.
Translate breed name: Russian-English-Hebrew.
Types of fish you can eat:
Anchovies, northern (Engraulis mordax), European (Engraulis encrasicolus) and Japanese (Engraulis japonicus).
Barramundi (Lates calcarifer), except grown in the Indo-Pacific region.
Channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) grown in the USA.
Red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii), not made in China.
Rock Lobster (Panulirus interruptus), only from California or Baja, Mexico City.
American lobster (Homarus americanus)
Atlantic mackerel (Scomber scombrus).
Atlantic haddock (Melanogrammus aeglefinus).
Sardines (Sardinops sagax).
Pagra, she is also a sea bream, she is also a tai (Pagrus pagrus).
Salmon (Salmo salar) wild, from Alaska. Farm-raised salmon and wild Washington salmon are both contaminated with PCBs and are dangerous to eat more than once a month, and less often are just bad.
Atlantic herring (Clupea harengus).
Tilapia (Tilapia).
Bivalve clams (Mya arenaria) grown in the USA.
Blue mussels (Mytilus edulis) grown in the USA.
Oysters (Crassostrea virginica) farmed in the USA.
Sea scallops (Argopecten irradians).
Pink shrimps (Pandalus jordani).
Squid (Teuthida).
Pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus). The site advises eating it, but in this case I cannot agree with the site - according to my information, not everything is so simple with cod.
Danzhdenessky crab (Cancer magister). Infected with PCBs.
Tuna light (Katsuwonus pelamis). Mercury contamination, although less than in other types of tuna.
White halibut (Hippoglossus stenolepis). Medium contamination with mercury.
Black sea bass (Centropristis striata). Medium contamination with mercury.
Pompano (Trachinotus carolinus). Medium contamination with mercury.
Monkfish (Lophius piscatorius). mercury contamination.
Rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss). Infection of PCBs.
Sea tongue (Parophrys vetula). Medium infection of PCBs.
The stingray (Leucoraja ocellata). Medium contamination with mercury.
Yellowtail Cuban (Ocyurus chrysurus). Medium contamination with mercury.
Large-headed snapper (Vermilion snapper). Medium contamination with mercury.
Lucian, various (Lutjanidae). Medium contamination with mercury.
Coal fish (Anoplopoma fimbria). Medium contamination with mercury.
Sea bass - rockfish. Medium contamination with mercury.
Dorado (Coryphaena hippurus). Medium contamination with mercury.
Fish containing a large amount hazardous substances(types are arranged in ascending order of harmful substances):
Hohlach, aka tilefish (Lopholatilus chamaeleonticeps). High levels of mercury.
Yellowfin tuna (Thunnus albacares). High levels of mercury.
Tuna white albacore. High levels of mercury.
Oysters (Crassostrea virginica). High infection rate of PCBs.
Murena (Conger conger). High levels of mercury.
Sea eel (Conger oceanicus). High levels of mercury.
Sheep snapper (Lutjanus analis). High levels of mercury.
Grouper (Epinephelus). High levels of mercury.
Wahoo (Acanthocybium solandri). High levels of mercury.
Gray croaker, croaker, spotted croaker (Cynoscion nebulosus). High levels of both mercury and PCBs.
Marcel Spanish (Scomberomorus maculatus). High levels of mercury.
Toothed greenling (Ophiodon elongatus). High levels of mercury.
Blue swimming crab (Callinectes sapidus). High levels of both mercury and PCBs.
Toothfish Chilean Patagonian. High levels of mercury.
Large-headed orange (Hoplostethus atlanticus). High levels of mercury.
Bigeye tuna (Thunnus obesus). Very high levels of mercury.
Farm-raised salmon (Salmo salar). Very high infection rate of PCBs
Salmon (Salmo salar), wild, from Washington. Very high infection rate of PCBs, it is dangerous to eat more than once a month.
Red-finned opah (Lampris guttatus). Very high levels of mercury.
American Flounder (Pseudopleuronectes americanus). Very high infection rate of PCBs, it is dangerous to eat more than once a month.
Summer toothed flounder (Paralichthys dentatus). Very high infection rate of PCBs, it is dangerous to eat more than once a month.
Atlantic croaker (Micropogonias undulatus). Very high infection rate of PCBs, it is dangerous to eat more than once a month.
Never eat the following types of fish, they are very dangerous (types are arranged as harmful substances increase):
Swordfish. Contains dangerous amounts of mercury.
Shark. Contains dangerous amounts of mercury.
Marlin (Makaira). Contains dangerous amounts of mercury.
Common tuna (Thunnus thynnus). Contains dangerous amounts of mercury.
Royal mackerel (Scomberomorus cavalla). Contains dangerous amounts of mercury.
Gray croaker (Cynoscion regalis). Contains hazardous amounts of mercury and PCBs.
Sturgeon. Contains hazardous amounts of mercury and PCBs.
Shed (Alosa sapidissima). Contains a dangerous amount of PCBs.
European eel (Anguilla anguilla). Contains a dangerous amount of PCBs.
American eel. Contains hazardous amounts of mercury and PCBs.
White croaker (Genyonemus lineatus). Contains a dangerous amount of PCBs.
Bluefish (Pomatomus saltatrix). Contains hazardous amounts of mercury and PCBs.
Striped perch, American (Morone saxatilis). Contains hazardous amounts of mercury and PCBs.
Greyback, Elevaif (Alosa pseudoharengus). Contains a dangerous amount of PCBs.
As far as I know, there are no similar lists in Russian (at least not on such a scale and not from such an authoritative source), so the dissemination of information is strongly encouraged.
"Today's rampant marine pollution poses not only problems for the environment, but also for human health," says Brian Clement, co-director of the Health Institute and author of Killer Fish: How Seafood Harms Your Health.
When buying fish in the market or ordering it in a restaurant, do not be lazy to read the labels and do not hesitate to ask questions that will help you get comprehensive information about the product.
- What country is this fish from?
- Is it wild-caught or farm-raised?
- If it is a wild fish, how was it caught?
- If raised, was it in open water (risk of contamination) or in an indoor pool or pond?
If you are offered fish that is uncharacteristic for this time of year or is too cheap, you should think about it. Fraud (replacing more expensive varieties with cheaper ones) has become commonplace. And another tip: when buying chilled fish, pay attention to its expiration date. Remember that according to GOST it is 14 days.
wild sea bass
If you want to try this fish, be sure to find out where it came from. Chilean sea bass is characterized by a high content of mercury, so an adult should eat it no more than twice a month. You should also not buy perch caught in the Crozet Islands, Prince Edward Islands, as well as in Chile. In these regions, fish are caught uncontrollably, destroying many other sea creatures along the way. Take a closer look at the sea bass caught off the Falkland Islands and Macquarie, fish caught off the coast of Argentina and in remote Antarctic waters are also good. Be sure to check if the product is certified.
kafelnik
“These fish should be eliminated from your diet altogether,” says Brian Clement, co-director of the Health Institute and author of Killer Fish: How Seafood Is Bad for Your Health. Kafelnik is another fish that has a high content of mercury in meat, so its consumption is also recommended to be limited. In addition, the catch of the tiled fish most often occurs with a significant violation of the norms, which occurs due to the excess of the permitted level of production of fish of this species. Hence the risk of getting infected or spoiled fish. If you still intend to put the tile on the table, give preference to the fish that was caught in the mid-Atlantic - more gentle fishing methods are practiced there.
Atlantic bighead
Interestingly, the age of the bighead can reach 100 years, but despite the extremely high life expectancy, the number of this fish is rather limited due to the long reproductive cycle and poaching. “While ocean fishing is now heavily regulated, the Atlantic bighead population has never recovered from the fish's boom decades ago,” explains Chef Frankie Terzoli. Buying an Atlantic bighead should be abandoned at least to protect nature. In addition, given the average age of the caught fish, we can assume the degree of poisoning with toxic substances.
Shark
Most fish and mollusks accumulate mercury compounds in their tissues, which can cause severe damage to the central nervous system person. The amount of these substances varies depending on the type of fish and its location in the food chain. Mercury in the composition of precipitation pollutes natural water bodies, where it is absorbed by aquatic plants, and then by small fish and further along the chain. In the process of its transfer from one fish to another, mercury accumulates, so its maximum level is found in large predators, sharks are one of them. In addition, today the population of this species of fish has reached its highest level. low level throughout history, as most of them are killed while catching other fish.
king mackerel
It is believed that only mackerel grown in the wild is good for health. However, this statement can be disputed. The reason for the doubt can be the same process of accumulation of mercury in the tissues of fish. Wild mackerel is not recommended for children and women, especially pregnant women. As for men, they are allowed to eat no more than one portion per month. Atlantic mackerel can be used as the safest option.
Swordfish
Swordfish is an important object of ocean fisheries. It is appreciated by chefs all over the world because of its delicate taste and almost complete absence of bones. Often swordfish are eaten raw, cut into thin slices and poured over with a sauce based on lemon juice. The main danger for ordinary consumers is the high cost of this fish, which is why it is often replaced in stores with other varieties of fish that are cheaper and not always caught in accordance with the norms, in particular, polombo from the shark family is often sold under the guise of swordfish. They are really close in taste, only the harm of the latter is much higher. Why - see the previous paragraph about sharks.
Ruweta
This fish, often referred to as "white tuna", is extremely tasty, but its excessive consumption can cause uncontrolled diarrhea. Ruweta contains gempilotoxin, a waxy ester that is indigestible by our stomach, which gives the fish a delicious oily taste, but at the same time causes digestive problems.
bluefin tuna
Almost all types of tuna contain small amounts of mercury. In addition, the consumption of bluefin tuna has a negative impact on the environment. Most often they are caught by unsafe methods, killing other marine animals along the way. Due to the high demand for bluefin tuna, this species has been severely affected, as individuals are often caught before they reach reproductive age.
red snapper
Since 1980, the population of this fish has been steadily declining due to overfishing, today it has reached an almost critical limit by its standards. Due to a sharp decline in the number of fish stocks, the practice of replacing snapper with more affordable species has appeared on the market. So, often tilapia and sea bass are given out for it. However, this is not as scary as snapper, expired or transported with violations to our shelves.
Shop sushi
When buying sushi or rolls in a store, keep in mind that most of them are made from not the highest quality fish. Tuna, for example, is often treated with carbon monoxide to produce an appetizing red color and extend shelf life. If tuna retains a bright red color after freezing, then it could not do without chemistry.
The freshness of fish can be understood by its appearance. Also, think twice before buying rolls in the store, as often such products are prepared elsewhere and only delivered to the store. You will not always have the opportunity to check the real expiration date, as well as the conditions under which these sushi were prepared.
Incredible Facts
Eating seafood is considered very healthy, right? In fact, everything is not so clear. "Sea pollution greatly increases the risks of both environmental and human health," says Brian Clement, author of Killer Fish: How Eating Seafood. Aquatic Life Endangers Your Health"), and co-director of the Hippocratic Institute of Health.
All this translates into foodborne illness. In addition, irresponsible fishing practices have a serious impact on the marine ecosystem.
Many species of fish are overfished or become bycatch (unintentional prey caught in nets during commercial fishing). Global bycatch is estimated to account for 40 percent of the world's total catch, at 63 billion tonnes.
What types of fish and why should be avoided in the first place?
dangerous fish
1. Wild Chilean sea bass
If you want to eat this fish, then you need to study its origin very carefully. Chilean sea bass is very high in mercury, so if you really want to, you can eat it no more than twice a month, and this is provided that you do not eat other dangerous fish.
This fish is also in danger of declining too quickly as sea bass is in high demand and global stocks are declining. Stay away from sea bass caught in the Crozet Islands, Prince Edward Islands and Mariana Islands, as well as in Chile. There is the most infected fish and a lot of it is caught there.
The named places are not recognized as available for fishing due to excessive reduction in the fish population. There is also a large by-catch that threatens the existence of other fish species.
Alternatively, choose sea bass caught off Macquarie Island in the South Pacific, off the Falklands, off the coast of Argentina, or off the remote Antarctic islands (Heard and McDonald). Ideally, the packaging should have an eco-label.
2. Tiled
Kafelnik is another fish that has a high concentration of mercury in its meat. Its consumption is also recommended to be strictly limited to one serving per month for adults, provided that other infected fish species are not eaten.
Today this fish is not so much left, and it is very often caught in bycatch. If you want to eat tile, look for fish caught in the Mid-Atlantic, there best practices fishing.
Fish high in mercury
3. Atlantic bighead
These fish can live up to a hundred years. However, despite being one of the longest-lived fish, the global stock is very low due to slow reproductive cycles and overfishing.
Despite the fact that fishing in the ocean in last years becomes more and more regulated, this fish is still advised to be avoided. And all because of overfishing and because of the destructive method of trawling that fishermen use.
Among other things, large-headed meat, like the meat of previous fish, contains a large amount of mercury.
4 Shark
Mercury moves up the food chain. When it falls as precipitation, in the form of rain or snow, it pollutes our natural water sources. Mercury is absorbed by small aquatic plants and animals, which are eaten by large fish, which, in turn, feed on even larger fish, so there is a process of accumulation harmful substance called "bioaccumulation".
The most dangerous fish
5. King Mackerel
This fish should be completely avoided. Mackerel, also known as mackerel, has one of the highest levels of mercury. It is better not to risk not eating it at all, although women are allowed to eat less than one serving per month, provided that no other infected fish is consumed.
Alternatively, opt for Atlantic mackerel, which is the best eco-friendly option.
6. Atlantic cod
Atlantic cod have been caught in great numbers, so today this fish is suffering from a massive population decline. In general, the consumption of most species of this cod should be avoided or greatly reduced.
An alternative in this case would be cod grown in aquaculture recirculation systems. These systems operate on land and the entry and exit of fish is strictly controlled. The population is also kept under control.
7. Swordfish
This fish also occupies one of the leading positions in the content of mercury, and it accumulates over time. This fish is contraindicated for children, adults can have one serving per month, again provided that no other infected fish is consumed.
In addition, most of these fish are harvested using long lines, a fishing method that also brings endangered creatures into the nets, including turtles, sharks and seabirds.
Dangerous fish to eat
8. Escolar
Often sold as whitefin tuna because it resembles tuna in both appearance and lifestyle. Its meat is very tasty, however, the use of this fish in too in large numbers can cause keriorrhea, a form of diarrhea.
Escolar contains a non-digestible fatty substance called gempilotoxin, which gives the meat that juicy, buttery flavor and texture. However, this substance can provoke the development of intestinal problems if you eat too much of this fish. Keep this in mind and eat it rarely and in small portions.
9. Bluefin tuna
Most types of tuna, including yellow, black, albacore, bigeye, contain mercury in varying amounts. Bluefin tuna has the highest levels of mercury and the lowest environmental ratings.
Longline fishing is the most common method of catching tuna. It involves the use of baited hooks attached to a hooked fishing gear - a bottom line. In addition, due to the high demand for bluefin tuna, it is overfished.