Mercury Levels Too High in Fav NYC Sushi Spots

Say it ain't so! I just read this article in The New York Times about a recent sampling of tuna at popular NYC sushi restaurants. It's a story that has been circling the Web today and may make sushi lovers (well, probably not me) think twice about ordering tuna.

"... laboratory tests that found high levels of mercury in tuna bought at 20 Manhattan stores and restaurants, including the Gourmet Garage. Its tuna had the second-highest mercury level in the study, 1.25 parts per million."

According to reports, "mercury of more than 1 part per million is the 'action level' at which the FDA can take food off the market." OK, well I've never been there, phew!

"The federal Food and Drug Administration can move to have fish containing that much mercury taken off the market, though it rarely does so. The four restaurants are Nobu Next Door, Sushi Seki, Sushi of Gari and Blue Ribbon Sushi."

Shoot, I've been to 3/4 but I'm still alive and writing this blog so what should one believe? How much sushi does one have to consume to get mercury poisoning anyway?

"Hiro Nishida, the president of the company that owns Megu, said Megu served tuna that was almost mercury-free at its other restaurant, in the Trump World Tower at 845 United Nations Plaza. Mr. Nishida said that that type of tuna, kindai tuna, was developed at Kinki University in Japan ... kindai tuna cost 50 percent more than ordinary tuna, but that he had not raised the prices on items that call for kindai tuna."

There's still hope, if you can afford it.