Calls for study into benefits of consuming oily fish

Food and nutrition experts have called for an official review of the recommendation that pregnant women eat no more than two portions of oily fish per week.

Delegates at the World Seafood Congress in Dublin also called for a study that would look at the benefits of eating fish as well as the risks.

"Pregnant women need to eat more fish. New scientific evidence has emerged which demonstrates that the benefits to the baby when pregnant women eat more fish outweighs the risks from contaminants," said Prof Patrick Wall, chairman of the European Food Safety Authority.

According to Prof Wall, studies showing the risks of oily fish being contaminated by mercury and other pollutants were exaggerated so much that many people no longer recognise the huge benefits from eating fish.

Prof Michael Crawford, Institute of Brain Chemistry and Human Nutrition, London Metropolitan University, England, said: "You can't eat too much fish. Personally, I recommend five fish or seafood meals per week.

"The Japanese eat fish every day and they have the best health in the world," he added.

Prof Wall and Prof Crawford were speaking at a debate entitled Is Eating Seafood the best way to get Omega 3s into your diet and your children's diets?

Another speaker at the debate, dietitian, Paula Mee, said that we were not feeding our children enough fish.

"There is a window of opportunity with young children and we need to continually challenge them, starting with white fish and then moving on to stronger tasting fish," she said.

Dr Alex Richardson, director of Food & Behaviour Research at the University of Oxford, quoted a study which tracked pregnant women and their children throughout the 1990s.

"This study found a clear link between pregnant women with higher fish consumption and children who obtained higher scores on tests for verbal intelligence, motor skills and social skills," she said.

Speaking specifically about whether fish and seafood (shellfish) or supplements were a better source of Omega 3 fatty acids, the expert panel agreed that fish - and particularly oily fish - was a better source as it also contained other bioactive ingredients including several minerals and vitamins.

Dr Richardson also cautioned against poor quality supplements.

"Basically in a capsule, you need to get a minimum of 500 milligrams of Omega 3 a day and preferable 1,000 milligrams which include the essential fatty acids, EPA and DHA," she said.

More than 200 people attended the Omega 3 debate which was held as part of the World Seafood Congress in Croke Park conference centre, Dublin last week.