Listen to nutritionist Anh Nguyen in the UK guide you on how to choose and prepare fish to reduce the risk of metal poisoning from seafood.
 |
| Recently, the problem of water pollution from waste from factories has led to water sources with high concentrations of heavy metals such as chromium, lead, and mercury. Aquatic organisms such as fish and shrimp are greatly affected by this pollution, leading to the accumulation of heavy metals in their bodies. People who eat these types of fish will be indirectly poisoned by metals from seafood, especially young children are at high risk of increased accumulation of heavy metals. |
 |
| Children under 5 years old face many health risks when poisoned by heavy metals. Specifically: children poisoned by lead have reduced IQ, children poisoned by chromium 4 have liver cancer and skin allergies, children poisoned by mercury will have liver failure and kidney failure. |
 |
| Although living in a contaminated water environment, according to experts, the concentration of heavy metals in freshly caught fish or fish that has been properly refrigerated is only fixed in certain organs. Meanwhile, fish that has been stored for a long time or is not well preserved during transportation have heavy metals throughout the fish's body. |
 |
| Metal poisoning in fish is difficult to observe with the naked eye. But when choosing fish, only choose fish of moderate size. Do not choose fish that are too big, especially for sea fish. |
 |
| In addition, you can evaluate whether the fish is fresh or not by your senses: the fish's eyes must be clear and bright, with little turbidity; the fish's gills must be pink or red; when you smell the fish, it still smells fresh, with no unpleasant odor; when you touch it, it does not feel slimy and the fish meat is still elastic. |
 |
| Even if you have chosen fresh fish, you should only feed your baby certain parts. Avoid giving your baby the following parts: |
 |
| Fish cheeks (near the gills): The gills contain the most heavy metals in the fish's body, so remove all the gills and surrounding flesh, including both sides of the fish's cheeks. |
 |
| Some fish are high in fat, so you should remove the fat and all the fish organs, especially the liver. Some large fish such as mackerel, tuna, and stingray have delicious livers, but the risk of metal poisoning is very high, so they should absolutely be avoided for children. Furthermore, omega-3 oil products extracted from fish liver (fish liver oil) should also be avoided for children under 10 years old. |
According to Knowledge.net.vn
