FAO/WHO background document on the risks and benefits of fish consumption
Food safety and quality series 27
Overview
The report of the first Joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on the Risks and Benefits of Fish Consumption was published in 2010. Since then, new literature, data and information on the subject have become available. As such, FAO and WHO decided to generate a background report consisting of a comprehensive literature review, followed by an expert consultation, to update the report with new scientific evidence.
This background document aims to provide scientific evidence about the risks and benefits of fish consumption in order to update the 2010 Report of the Joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on the Risks and Benefits of Fish Consumption.
To provide new scientific evidence, five extensive literature reviews were conducted, focusing on the following five topics:
- evidence of health benefits from fish consumption;
- toxic effects of dioxins and dioxin-like polychlorinated biphenyls (dl-PCBs) (from studies published since 2010);
- toxic effects of methylmercury (MeHg) (from studies published since 2010);
- the role of selenium (Se) with regard to the health effects of MeHg;
- occurrence data for MeHg, dioxins and dl-PCBs in fishery and aquaculture products (from studies published since 2010).
The reviews followed a systematic approach, performing a systematic literature search and implementing elements from systematic literature reviews.
