Thumbnail Image

FAO/WHO background document on the risks and benefits of fish consumption











Supporting materials are available:

Last updated 16/09/2024



FAO & WHO. 2024. FAO/WHO background document on the risks and benefits of fish consumption. Food Safety and Quality Series, No. 27. Rome.




Also available in:
No results found.

Related items

Showing items related by metadata.

  • Thumbnail Image
    Book (series)
    Report of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on the Risks and Benefits of Fish Consumption. Rome, 25-29 january 2010 2011
    Also available in:

    The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations and the World Health Organization convened a Joint Expert Consultation on the Risks and Benefits of Fish Consumption from 25 to 29 January 2010. The tasks of the Expert Consultation were to review data on levels of nutrients (long-chain omega-3 fatty acids) and specific chemical contaminants (methylmercury and dioxins) in a range of fish species and to compare the health benefits of fish consumption and nutrient intake with th e health risks associated with contaminants present in fish. The Expert Consultation drew a number of conclusions regarding the health benefits and health risks associated with fish consumption and recommended a series of steps that Member States should take to better assess and manage the risks and benefits of fish consumption and more effectively communicate these risks and benefits to their citizens. The output of the Expert Consultation is a framework for assessing the net health ben efits or risks of fish consumption that will provide guidance to national food safety authorities and the Codex Alimentarius Commission in their work on managing risks, taking into account the existing data on the benefits of eating fish. The Expert Consultation concluded the following: Consumption of fish provides energy, protein and a range of other important nutrients, including the long-chain n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (LCn3PUFAs). Eating fish is part of the cultural traditi ons of many peoples. In some populations, fish is a major source of food and essential nutrients. Among the general adult population, consumption of fish, particularly fatty fish, lowers the risk of mortality from coronary heart disease. There is an absence of probable or convincing evidence of risk of coronary heart disease associated with methylmercury. Potential cancer risks associated with dioxins are well below established coronary heart disease benefits from fish consumption. W hen comparing the benefits of LCn3PUFAs with the risks of methylmercury among women of childbearing age, maternal fish consumption lowers the risk of suboptimal neurodevelopment in their offspring compared with the offspring of women not eating fish in most circumstances evaluated. At levels of maternal exposure to dioxins (from fish and other dietary sources) that do not exceed the provisional tolerable monthly intake (PTMI) of 70 pg/kg body weight established by JECFA (for PCDDs, PCD Fs and coplanar PCBs), neurodevelopmental risk for the fetus is negligible. At levels of maternal exposure to dioxins (from fish and other dietary sources) that exceed the PTMI, neurodevelopmental risk for the fetus may no longer be negligible. Among infants, young children and adolescents, the available data are currently insufficient to derive a quantitative framework of the health risks and health benefits of eating fish. However, healthy dietary patterns that include fish consumpti on and are established early in life influence dietary habits and health during adult life.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Document
    Joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on Risks and Benefits of Fish Consumption - Summary and Conclusions. Rome, Italy, 9-13 October 2023
    Issued November 2023
    2023
    Also available in:
    No results found.

    The adhoc Joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on Risks and Benefits of Fish Consumption examined the results of recent systematic literature reviews on the risks and benefits of fish consumption, draw conclusions regarding the risks and benefits associated with fish consumption, and recommend a series of steps to better assess and manage the risks and benefits of fish consumption. This document summarizes the key conclusions of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on Risks and Benefits of Fish Consumption. The full report will be published and will describe the scientific evidence available to the Expert Committee and its deliberations during the meeting.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Document
    Joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on the Risks and Benefits of Fish Consumption
    Rome, Italy: 9-13 October 2023. Call for Experts
    2023
    Also available in:
    No results found.

Users also downloaded

Showing related downloaded files

No results found.