Council of Agriculture (COA) Minister Chen Bao-ji (陳保基) yesterday said the public does not need to worry too much about the safety of consuming deep-sea fish just because a recent study indicated that some children had elevated mercury levels as a result of eating too much of such fish, but he said over-consumption of deep-sea fish should be avoided.
A recent study by Taipei Veterans General Hospital’s clinical toxicologist Wu Ming-ling (吳明玲) found that eating too much deep-sea fish over a long period of time may lead to increased levels of toxic mercury in the body.
Her study of 31 patients — including six children — who had high mercury levels in their blood and hair found that all were long-term frequent consumers of such fish.
The mercury level in the blood of a three-year-old girl who had delayed speech development exceeded the provisional tolerable weekly intake of total mercury suggested by the WHO — 0.005 parts per million — by 40 times because she had been fed deep sea fish at least twice a day since she was one year old.
“It [deep sea fish] is still edible, but all food has its tolerable upper intake level, so we cannot deem all food inedible just because of a certain case, or an individual [mercury poisoning] case of a child,” Chen told a meeting of the legislature’s Economic Committee.
“In my opinion, mercury residue levels do not differ according to the cooking methods, and I think it is still safe to eat large predatory saltwater fish, as long as we do not consume excessive amounts like the child,” he said in response to a legislator’s question about whether mercury exposure was limited to eating raw fish or was also a risk when eating cooked fish.
Fisheries Agency Deputy Director-General Tsay Tzu-yaw (蔡日曜) said deep sea fish have longer life spans so they tend to accumulate higher levels of mercury from the environment than other fish species, but it is still safe to eat them on a daily basis, as not too much is consumed.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
MEDICAL: The bills would also upgrade the status of the Ethical Guidelines Governing the Research of Human Embryos and Embryonic Stem Cell Research to law The Executive Yuan yesterday approved two bills to govern regenerative medicine that aim to boost development of the field. Taiwan would reach an important milestone in regenerative medicine development with passage of the regenerative medicine act and the regenerative medicine preparations ordinance, which would allow studies to proceed and treatments to be developed, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) told reporters at a news conference after a Cabinet meeting. Regenerative treatments have been used for several conditions, including cancer — by regenerating blood cells — and restoring joint function in soft tissue, Wang said. The draft legislation requires regenerative treatments
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese