California Sues
Safeway, Kroger Co., Albertson's, Trader Joe's and Whole Foods
over Mercury in Fish

BOB EGELKO / SF Chronicle 18jan03

Warning Labels Sought for Mercury in Swordfish, Tuna, Shark

State Attorney General Bill Lockyer is suing five grocery chains that operate in California, seeking to make them post warning labels on packages of swordfish, shark and fresh tuna that contain mercury.

Lockyer filed the suit Friday in San Francisco Superior Court under the state's Proposition 65, the 1986 voter-approved initiative that requires businesses to notify customers if they are being exposed to toxic chemicals.

"Generally, fish are an important source of protein and play a prominent role in many Californians' diet," Lockyer said. "But consumers deserve to know when they are being exposed to chemicals that can cause cancer, birth defects and reproductive harm."

The suit names Safeway, Kroger Co., Albertson's, Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, which the attorney general said were in violation of Prop. 65. Phone calls to the companies were not returned late Friday.

Mercury enters water or air as waste from mines, power plants and solid- waste incinerators and works its way up the food chain to certain species of fish, including ahi tuna, albacore tuna, swordfish and shark.

It affects the human brain and nervous system, can cause behavioral problems and loss of intelligence in children, and has been linked in recent studies to impairments of immune and reproductive systems and cardiovascular disease. Compounds of methyl-mercury, an organic form of mercury, are listed by the state as cancer-causing substances.

Lockyer cited a recent study that found high concentrations of mercury in the blood of affluent Bay Area residents who ate large amounts of fish for their health. The levels of mercury exceeded safety levels set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. The study's author, Dr. Jane Hightower, also reported that her patients' mercury levels plummeted when they changed their diets.

Lockyer's suit does not seek warning labels on canned tuna. "We don't have good, hard evidence on mercury levels in canned tuna," said Lockyer spokesman Tom Dresslar.

But a science panel recommended last July that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warn pregnant women that eating large amounts of canned tuna may cause fetal damage from mercury.

The FDA already advises pregnant women, and women who might become pregnant,

not to eat swordfish, shark, king mackerel or tilefish, also called golden snapper. Those women should eat no more than 12 ounces of any kind of fish per week, the FDA says.

Violations of Prop. 65 carry civil penalties of $2,500 a day for the four- year period preceding the suit. But Dresslar said the chief goal of the lawsuit was to require warning labels.

"We have been in contact with representatives of the grocery chains," Dresslar said, declining to describe their response. "We notified them that we were filing the complaint. We expect to continue having discussions."

He said Lockyer may expand the suit to cover other companies.

Safeway, which owns Vons stores in Southern California, is the state's largest grocery chain with more than 500 stores. Albertson's and Kroger, which owns Ralphs, Cala and Bell Markets, have about 450 stores each in California.

The suit was in response to complaints filed in November by two Bay Area organizations, Turtle Island Restoration Network and As You Sow Foundation. The organizations said Friday that they had conducted tests of fish sold locally by the five grocery chains and other stores and restaurants and found dangerous levels of methylmercury.

"States need to take adequate action to reduce both the exposure and the emissions of mercury," said Larry Fahn, executive director of As You Sow Foundation. He said mercury levels have been increased by coal-burning and battery production.

Chronicle staff writer Jenny Strasburg contributed to this report.