(IntraFish) Levels exceed federal
One marlin sample tested 28 times the allowable level. Ahi tuna tuna and salmon also tested positive for excessive mercury, reports Environment News Science.
Mercury ingestion can lead to memory loss, developmental and learning disorders, vision loss, heart disease and, rarely, death, according to the publication..
The Food and Drug Administration(FDA), which is responsible for regulating mercury levels in seafood, has never tested mercury in fish jerky. It is not included in the agency's advisory for women and children not to eat high mercury fish such as swordfish and shark and to limit servings of albacore tuna.
"It is shocking to find such high levels of toxic mercury in a snack sold as a healthy food," Teri Shore of GotMercury.org, a public health advocacy based in Marin County, California, told the newspaper.
"Mercury warnings need to go on fish jerky labels so people can make informed choices," said Shore.