Statement on the benefits of fish/seafood consumption compared to the risks of methylmercury in fish/seafood

Following a request from the European Corninission to carry out a risk benefit analysis as regards the risks and benefits to human health of fish/seafood consumption related to inethylmercury, the EFSA Scientific Committee used previous work performed by the EFSA Panel on Contaminants in the Food Chain and the EFSA Panel on Dietetic Products, Nutrition and Allergies to create scenarios based on typical fish consumption patterns of population groups at risk of exceeding the tolerable weekly intake (TWI) for inethyltnercury, The Scientific Conmrittee then estimated how many servings of fish/seafood per week these population grottos would need to reach the TWI for methylmercury and the dietary reference value (DRV) for n-3 (Long-Chain) Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid (LCPUFA), When consuming species with a high methylmercury content, only a few numbers of servings (<1-2) can be eaten before reaching the TWI, which may be attained before the DRV To protect against inter alia neurodevelopmental toxicity of methylmercury and achieve the benefits of fish consumption (effect of fish/seafood consumption during pregnancy on functional outcomes of children's neurodevelopment and on cardiovascular diseases in adults), which are associated with 1-4 fish servings per week, fish/seafood. species with a high content of mercury in the daily diet should be limited. Because a satiety of fish species are consumed across Europe, it is not possible to make general recommendations on fish consumption, The Scientific Committee therefore recommends that each country needs to consider its own pattern of fish consumption, especially the species of fish consumed, and carefully assess the risk of exceeding the TWI of methylinercury while obtaining the health benefits from consumption of fish/seafood, (C) European Food Safety Authority, 2015.