WASHINGTON — Do Gulf Coast residents eat more shrimp and seafood than the government realizes in setting safe seafood standards?
The Natural Resources Defense Council found in a survey of more than 500 Gulf Coast residents released Wednesday that locals eat three to 12 times more seafood than the consumption rate the Food and Drug Administration uses in determining safe seafood levels, exposing those consumers, it charges, to more carcinogens.
"It's common knowledge that people in the Gulf love their seafood," said Gina Solomon, a physician and senior scientist at the council. "When we think of food from the region we think of po' boys and gumbo, oyster bakes and jambalaya. Yet despite this, FDA has been setting safety standards for cancer-causing chemicals based on nationwide seafood consumption rates, failing to take the uniqueness of the regional diet into consideration."
Thirty-six Gulf Coast environmental groups joined the council Wednesday in a letter to the FDA that urged regulators to recalculate acceptable contaminant levels in seafood from the Gulf of Mexico.
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