French NGO Bloom warns against a “health scandal of vast proportions” over mercury levels in tinned tuna. Their inquiry, published in October, echoed all over the world. Is it going to prompt a change in European legislation?
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Is it safe, the food we eat?
00:04Tuna is the most consumed fish in Europe
00:06and it is one of the most contaminated with mercury.
00:12Out of 148 cans of tuna
00:14analyzed by the French NGO BLOOM
00:16in five European countries,
00:18the totality was contaminated with mercury.
00:22In some cases, the levels were four times higher
00:25than those allowed by law.
00:28Methylmercury, the most absorbed organic form of mercury
00:32is assimilated almost exclusively
00:34through the products of fishing.
00:37It is a potential cancer
00:39according to the International Cancer Research Agency.
00:43Why such high amounts of mercury
00:45end up in our food and with what consequences?
00:48For those who consume it, we talk about it on European Stories.
00:52Mercury concentrations in the oceans are increasing.
00:55The main cause is human activities.
00:59In the sea, some microorganisms
01:01transform mercury into methylmercury,
01:03an organic derivative that accumulates in fish.
01:07It is a powerful neurotoxic,
01:09particularly harmful for fetuses and newborns.
01:11High concentrations of mercury in newborns
01:13result in a lower IQ,
01:15less attention, less memory
01:17and reduced psychomotor performance.
01:19The larger the fish, such as tuna,
01:21the more methylmercury it contains.
01:24In Europe, the content of mercury
01:26allowed in fish such as pollack
01:28is 0.3 mg per kilo.
01:30The limit for fresh tuna is 1 mg per kilo.
01:34The ONG Bloom and Foodwatch
01:36say that this threshold is too high
01:38and that it is not always respected.
01:41The European Food Safety Authority
01:43says that mercury is not allowed
01:45in fish.
01:46The European Food Safety Authority
01:48says that the amount of mercury
01:50that can be absorbed without risk
01:52is 1.3 micrograms per kilo of weight per week.
01:55Tuna is the most consumed fish in Europe.
02:06In every can of tuna there is mercury
02:08and in 1 in 10 of those tested by the ONG Bloom
02:11the levels exceed the allowed thresholds.
02:15This 18-month investigation
02:17has raised the debate
02:19about food safety in Europe.
02:21A 25-year-old researcher
02:23met her in Paris.
02:45The research has brought to light
02:47what Bloom defines as a health scandal
02:49of vast proportions.
02:57Julie has not only worked on tuna samples
02:59analyzed by an external laboratory.
03:01She went back to European documents
03:03of the FAO and the WHO
03:05also from the 1960s
03:07to understand how the limit
03:09of 1 mg of mercury per kilo was set.
03:12She concluded that the authorities
03:14had defined the limits
03:16in accordance with the lobby of tuna.
03:42Bloom says that the lack of control
03:44in the tuna industry
03:46and in the distribution chain
03:48is one of the reasons
03:50why tuna has reached
03:52illegal levels of mercury
03:54in our supermarkets.
03:56We went back to the production chain
03:58and talked to different actors
04:00such as the competent authorities
04:02of a country that exports tuna
04:04to the European Union.
04:06We saw that the EU
04:08did not have very precise requirements
04:10for the level of mercury.
04:12Since 2023, in the instructions
04:14for the customs controls in France,
04:16we do not need to test
04:18the mercury of tuna boxes.
04:24The NGO Bloom and Foodwatch
04:26have launched a campaign
04:28to push national and European authorities
04:30to change the rules.
04:32What we ask in priority
04:34is to register in the French law
04:36that now we will apply to tuna
04:38the strictest level of mercury
04:40and then to defend this measure
04:42at the level of the European Commission.
04:54That same day,
04:56the NGO had a first meeting
04:58with the National Assembly.
05:00Bloom's delegation asked
05:02not only to lower mercury levels
05:04in tuna, but also to ban tuna
05:06in boxes in nursing homes, schools,
05:08hospitals, maternity wards
05:10and nursing homes.
05:12The meeting aroused interest
05:14but not yet a formal commitment.
05:16What happens at the European level?
05:28Bloom's revelations will lead
05:30to stricter measures for controversial
05:32foods such as tuna,
05:34health and food security
05:36of the European Commission.
06:04So you need to find a balance
06:06between protecting consumers
06:08from intake of pollutants.
06:10On the other hand, you also have
06:12to make sure that fish remains available
06:14on the market.
06:16So it's just a question of market?
06:18No, no, no. That is not correct.
06:20We look at two extremely important
06:22priorities that we translate
06:24in our maximum levels.
06:26Protecting consumers against contaminants
06:28and making sure that consumers
06:30can continue to reap the benefits
06:32of fish consumption.
06:34Shouldn't the EU impose banners
06:36in supermarkets warning against
06:38the risks of eating tuna?
06:40What I can say is we have guidance
06:42from the Commission with regards to
06:44consumption of fish, which
06:46let us not forget, is healthy.
06:48Levels can always be reduced
06:50if there is scientific evidence
06:52that makes it very clear that we should
06:54go to a reduction of the maximum
06:56level of contaminants.
06:58So don't you have enough scientific evidence
07:00that tuna should be less than one milligram?
07:02When it comes to scientific evidence,
07:04we follow the colleagues of the European
07:06Food Safety Authority.
07:08I cannot comment on one report of one NGO.
07:10I cannot do that, of course.
07:12If you want to check the scientific
07:14strength of such reports,
07:16it's best to check that with the scientists.
07:18It is the European Food Safety Authority,
07:20EFSA, that provides the Commission
07:22with the scientific basis
07:24for its decisions.
07:26But EFSA has not received any request
07:28from the Commission to update
07:30its 2012 evaluations
07:32on the risks of mercury in food.
07:36While we wait for more restrictive
07:38restrictions to be applied,
07:40we continue to eat tuna in a box
07:42rich in protein, omega-3 and mercury.
07:46Until then, it will be up to us Europeans
07:48to inform and protect ourselves.
07:58For more UN videos visit www.un.org