Bill Moyers Examines the FDA and the Tuna Industry

NOW with Bill Moyers
PBS Airdate: Friday, July 18, 2003 at 9 p.m.
(check local listings)

Is the FDA choosing the health of the tuna industry over the health of the
American people? Tuna is one of the most popular foods on grocery store
shelves. But in 2000, the FDA told women in focus groups that it wasn't
safe to eat a lot of canned tuna during pregnancy because it contains
mercury, which could have serious health consequences. But that information
hasn't been disseminated--in fact, tuna isn't even mentioned by the FDA in
its current consumer advisory. On Friday, July 18, 2003 at 9 p.m. on PBS
(check local listings), NOW with Bill Moyers examines how the influence of
the tuna industry on the FDA may be putting Americans and their children at
risk for mercury poisoning. The report exposes that the FDA only tests about
a dozen cans of tuna for mercury a year and doesn't ask to review the tuna
industry's own tests. Those industry tests, says one spokesperson,
sometimes reveal unsafe mercury levels in tuna.

ta wrote:
> NOW with Bill Moyers
> PBS Airdate: Friday, July 18, 2003 at 9 p.m.
> (check local listings)
>
> Is the FDA choosing the health of the tuna industry over the health of the
> American people?

Nope.

> Tuna is one of the most popular foods on grocery store
> shelves. But in 2000, the FDA told women in focus groups that it wasn't
> safe to eat a lot of canned tuna during pregnancy because it contains
> mercury, which could have serious health consequences.

Focus groups -- the paradigm of Clintonian policymaking. Focus groups
are used for testing strategies, not for disseminating truth.

Methylmercury in canned tuna is well within the safe limits established
by EPA/FDA. Canned tuna in moderation is safe for all humans, except the
strange case of allergies to fish.

> But that information
> hasn't been disseminated--in fact, tuna isn't even mentioned by the FDA in
> its current consumer advisory.

That information wasn't disseminated because it was only used to gauge
responses to POTENTIAL and HYPOTHETICAL policy decisions. Tuna poses
little threat compared to the species (especially tilefish and shark)
still listed on the advisory. Those fish are still safe to eat in
moderation.

> On Friday, July 18, 2003 at 9 p.m. on PBS
> (check local listings), NOW with Bill Moyers examines how the influence of
> the tuna industry on the FDA may be putting Americans and their children at
> risk for mercury poisoning.

The Seychelles Longitudinal Study shows that EPA/FDA levels were
arbitrarily conceived in relation to the ACTUAL danger methylmercury
exposure poses to developing children. Children in the Seychelles with
several times the exposure of EPA/FDA levels -- from eating a lot of
fish DAILY -- had no developmental problems.

> The report exposes that the FDA only tests about
> a dozen cans of tuna for mercury a year and doesn't ask to review the tuna
> industry's own tests. Those industry tests, says one spokesperson,
> sometimes reveal unsafe mercury levels in tuna.

The FDA tests more cans than the bogus little activist group (MPP) he's
using to make some points in this show.

Moyers has become even more of a leftist shill than he was in the
Johnson administration. I had some respect for him for a while, but he's
gotten increasingly stupid as he's aged. I also have no respect for
people who use PBS and its taxpayer subsidies as a venue in which to
market their books.