In November 1999 the then UK Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) published the results of its survey of dioxin and PCB (polychlorinated biphenyl) levels in sea fish, farm fish and fish fingers eaten in the UK. It concluded that eating more than one portion of fish per week could be hazardous.

Dioxins and PCBs are two of the most poisonous chemicals known. In 1998 the World Health Organisation (WHO) reduced the maximum intake it considered safe from 10 to 1.4 picograms per kilogram of body weight a day.

Ed.- (i) Young children are particularly vulnerable and should be rationed to, say, one portion a fortnight, if permitted fresh fish at all. But the omega-3 and omega-6 essential fatty acids in oily fish like trout and salmon are essential to children's development. The solution is to give a daily dose of cod liver oil taken from fish caught in unpolluted waters. This will also deliver a healthy dose of vitamins A amd D.

The UK Department of Health revised its advice regarding the consumption of oily fish. No more than:

• four 140gm portions of oily fish a week for men and boys, women past child-bearing age and women who cannot or are not intending to have children

• two 140gm portions of oily fish a week for women of child-bearing age, including pregnant and breastfeeding women and girls

(ii) People wishing to significantly increase their intake of omega-3 by eating more oily fish face a problem. Most sea fish are polluted by extremely toxic chemicals like mercury.

The answer would be to take a strong omega-3 supplement but, despite the best efforts of supplement manufacturers, many of these contain the same toxins as the fish from which they are derived. Of the omega-3 supplement manufacturers we know, Nordic Naturals appears to take the most comprehensive measures (backed up by independent research) to ensure a high-quality, low-toxicity product:

Nordic Naturals
Only wild mackerel, sardines and anchovies, all fish low on the food chain, and therefore less polluted, are used. Their children's product, DHA Formula and Liquid Arctic Cod Liver Oil, comes from virgin Arctic cod liver oil

• The oils are distilled at the lowest possible temperature to avoid damaging the essential fatty acids they contain, particularly the most valuable for human health, DHA and EPA

• The distillation process also removes all trans-fatty acids and almost all mercury, PCBs and dioxins whilst increasing the proportion of DHA and EPA in the mixture to over 80%

• To minimise any risk of the mixture developing rancidity, as much of the oxygen as possible is flushed out using nitrogen and the addition of powerful antioxidants (lecithin and vitamins C and E)

For further information visit website: www.nordicnaturals.com.

One company promoting Nordic Natural supplements is The Nutri Centre in London (Tel.: 0207 436 5122 email:customerservices@ nutricentre.com).

Japan is the only country still hunting whales, but where pressure from the world’s most powerful countries has failed, their pollution has succeeded. The bottom has now fallen out of the Japanese market.

A 1999 study by two Japanese toxicologists of 100 samples of whalemeat bought in restaurants found that an astonishing 50% were contaminated with heavy metals or dangerous chemicals, including mercury, dioxins, DDT and PCBs. The levels were above both Japanese and international safety levels. This study also found that 25% of the samples had been sold under false pretences, in that they contained dolphin and porpoise meat. A Japanese Environment Agency (JEA) study in November last year confirmed the earlier findings. One JEA scientist said that eating just three ounces of dolphin meat or one ounce of dolphin liver “would cause significant health problems”.

A seven-year study in the Faroe Islands found that children whose mothers had eaten polluted whalemeat whilst pregnant were much more likely to suffer brain and heart damage. Toxic chemicals concentrate in whale and dolphins up to 70,000 times the level of contamination of the seawater they swim in.