How much tuna do you give your toddler?

I'm very frustrated with the FDA! They've released some new and completely vague guidelines about mercury in fish and I want to get a better idea of how much canned tuna in my daughter's diet is really ok. Here's a link to one article on the topic:

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/htm...mercury10.html

I asked her pediatrician about this months ago and was told 1-2 servings per week was ok, but now I'm wondering if even that is too much. Unfortunately, I only like the good stuff--white/albacore, which this new study says has more mercury than the "light" variety.

I'll ask her dr about this again at her next checkup but I'm curious what others are doing, or if anyone has a source for more definitive information on the topic. Also wondering if there are any brands of canned salmon people like? According to the study salmon is both low in mercury and high in Omega 3, so maybe this would be a good substitute for us.

Tuna's been a lunch standard for both of us for quite a while now, especially since it started coming in those handy pouches! Not sure whether this is safe anymore?

Thanks for any help!
Chris

Chris,
I got a brochure from the Washington State Dept. of Health which recommends no more than 1 tablespoon of tuna per week for a child who weighs 25 pounds. The next increment is 50 pounds and they recommend 2 tablespoons for that size.

Here's a link to where you can download the brochure that the state sent me: [http://www.doh.wa.gov/here/CRA/CRA_detail.asp?ID=287]

And here's a link to the rest of their website that talks about fish, mercury, etc. : [http://www.doh.wa.gov/fish/]

HTH!

I don't have any additional information, but here is what I do: I did not eat tuna at all while I was pregnant. Since DS was born, I have probably eaten 2 cans of tuna total, and I have not given DS any tuna at all. It just doesn't really seem worth it at this point. I am already worried about lead since I live in a really old house, so I want to avoid mercury as much as possible, especially for DS.

Jennifer
mom to Jacob 9/27/02

Karen & Jennifer,

Thanks for your replies! I've been reading everything I can find about this in the last couple days and have decided we're going to be a tuna-free house for the time being. Spent a lot of time at www.mercurypolicy.org and read a report they put out called "Can the Tuna" back in June. It points out that even states with the most conservative recommendations--Washington is probably the best of all of these--are still basing their policy on the 1992 mercury testings where all tuna was averaged together. Even the average numbers have gone up since then and the albacore readings are 3 times higher.

So, next step I guess is to start taste testing brands of salmon!

Thanks,

Chris