Dr. Oz Gets it Wrong on Fish and Mercury According to The National Fisheries Institute

Dr. Oz Gets it Wrong on Fish and Mercury According to The National Fisheries Institute

Seafood Community Joins Growing Chorus of Critics Taking Television Doctor to Task for Questionable Advice

WASHINGTON, June 3 /PRNewswire/ -- The National Fisheries Institute (NFI) is publicly challenging Dr. Mehmet Oz, host of the Dr. Oz Show, to correct a number of errors and distortions that he made concerning fish, nutrition and mercury on a recent episode of his show. Earlier this year, NFI sent several letters to Dr. Oz pointing out, among others, the following errors contained in a program that was televised nationally on January 26, 2010 and is scheduled to be re-run nationwide later today:

-- Dr. Oz told his viewers that mercury in fish was a concern for the
general population, an assertion that is clearly contradicted by the
advice of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that says, "for
most people, the risk from mercury by eating fish and shellfish is not
a health concern."
-- Dr. Oz also incorrectly asserted that the methyl mercury found in
seafood enters the food chain because of man-made pollution, when in
fact those trace amounts are primarily from sources like underwater
volcanic activity. A scientific fact recently buttressed by two
rulings in the California courts that found that the vast majority of
mercury in seafood was "naturally occurring."
-- Dr. Oz also interviewed activist Dr. Jane Hightower about her
mercury-focused practice and her pet diagnosis of "fish fog," but
nowhere did he mention that there have been no cases of mercury
poisoning, as the result of the normal consumption of commercial
seafood., found in peer-reviewed medical journals in the U.S.

Despite repeatedly bringing this to his attention, Dr. Oz refused to substantively answer NFI's questions and instead responded with a letter from the program's attorney. When NFI learned of ZoCo Production's intention to re-run the program, it sent yet another letter to which the company has yet to respond.

NFI joins a growing chorus of critics who are finding fault with many of the doctor's methods. An April 2010 profile in the New York Times Magazine observed that the pressures of producing a daily television show had led Dr. Oz to dispense "a chaotic bazaar of advice, not all of it equally reliable and important." Another article that appeared that same month in the Chicago Tribune concluded that, "Oz's ventures also offer advice unsupported by science."

For more than 60 years, the National Fisheries Institute (NFI) and its members have provided American families with the variety of sustainable seafood essential to a healthy diet. For more information visit: www.AboutSeafood.com.

Source: National Fisheries Institute

CONTACT: Gavin Gibbons, National Fisheries Institute, +1-703-752-8891,
ggibbons@nfi.org

Web Site: http://www.aboutseafood.com/

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