LOS ANGELES, March 6 (UPI) -- A public health advocacy group is questioning the Food and Drug Administration's system of monitoring the mercury levels in fish.
The group, GotMercury.org, tested sushi purchased from five restaurants in Southern California and from the Benihana Inc. chain in late January, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The mercury levels of the 12 tuna samples averaged about double the FDA standard, said Eli Saddler, a public health analyst and attorney for GotMercury.org.
"Eating sushi has become the new Russian roulette," Saddler told the newspaper.
Mercury, which is linked to reduced brain development in fetuses and young children, is found in at least trace levels in nearly all fish.
"A child or a woman eating even one 2-ounce sushi order with the amounts of mercury found in some of the tuna we tested could exceed what the FDA considers safe," Saddler told the newspaper.
