A group of experts in maternal nutrition and obstetrics
announced today a new recommendation that pregnant women should
eat at least 12 ounces of seafood per week, a sharp turn from
previous Food and Drug Administration recommendations. The
recommendations come as the latest volley in a long-running
debate over the safety of seafood for pregnant women. Most of
the concerns have centered on whether methyl mercury, a trace
element that can accumulate in certain fish, can accumulate to
levels that are dangerous to developing fetuses. The Maternal
Nutrition Group, comprising 14 nutritionists, physicians and
dietitians from academic centers around the country, made the
announcement today together with the nonprofit group National
Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition. In the statement, the
group recommended that pregnant, breast-feeding and postpartum
women consume a minimum of 12 ounces of seafood a week as part
of an overall healthy diet -- as long as only 6 of the ounces of
seafood per week come from albaco