Tuna and mercury

knottieba886490cf35ea60

Hi all, Before finding out I was pregnant I was eating a lot of albacore tuna maybe around two times a week I just found out that albacore tuna is actually not good during pregnancy due to the high levels of mercury. I am of course worried because mercury can stay in your system for a very long time so I’m not sure how much mercury has accumulated overtime. I have stopped eating tuna but I’m just wondering if anyone here has albacore tuna?

froggerblue

Was it canned tuna? In Canada, the recommended amount of canned albacore tuna is a maximum of 300g a week for pregnant woman. So even if you ate two small cans per week by yourself, it should be fine. If you are still worried, you could address the issue with your doctor. You could use canned light tuna instead of albacore tuna, as there are no restriction on those while pregnant. Hope this was helpful.

knottieba886490cf35ea60

This was helpful! Thank you so much for your response. Yes, it was canned tuna. 

froggerblue

I looked up a bit more and the FDA (USA) is a bit more restrictive with only 4oz (113g) as the recommended amount of albacore tuna per week. It's hard to draw a line since recommendations varie depending on the country. You might be able to look it up on your country's website. Even if Canada allows a bigger portion per week, there's not more case of mercury poisoning there. So try not to stress with that. Those are only guidelines and not laws. The important thing is that you know now and are able to decide how you wish to follow the recommendations from now on. ❤️

knottieba886490cf35ea60

Thank you so much for your kind words. This is really reassuring and will take better caution when it comes to consuming tuna. 💕