Is eating sushi safe?

吃寿司安全吗？

During a recent meal with a Wall Street financial adviser, he mentioned that he eats sushi several times a week because he believed it to be the most healthful and convenient way to dine while continuing to work at his desk. I was left wondering if that was as healthful as he said, given the recent concern about mercury in fish.

最近我和一位华尔街财务顾问一起吃饭。席间他提到他每周要吃几次寿司，因为他认为，如果要一边用餐一边继续在办公室工作，吃寿司是最健康和最便捷的选择。考虑到最近人们对鱼类含汞的忧虑，我不由怀疑吃寿司是否像他说的那么健康。

All around the financial centres in London and New York, shops which once featured only simple sandwiches now stock different types of sushi and sashimi, including those made from various types of tuna. This despite the well-publicised concern when Richard Gelfond, CEO of the US cinema group Imax, reported that he had been diagnosed with mercury toxicity after eating sushi on a daily basis.

在伦敦和纽约的金融中心周边，原本只供应简易三明治的店铺现在都售卖各种各样的寿司和生鱼片，包括用各种金枪鱼制作的食品。尽管自从美国影院集团IMAX首席执行官理查德嬠尔方(Richard Gelfond)自称因每天食用寿司而被诊断出汞中毒后，媒体已对这一问题进行了广泛报道。

In addition, the actor Jeremy Piven, star of ITV’s Mr Selfridge franchise, also was reported to have been hospitalised for mercury toxicity from eating sushi.

此外，有报道称，英国独立电视台(ITV)《塞尔弗里奇先生》(Mr Selfridge)电视剧中的主演杰里米皮文(Jeremy Piven)也因食用寿司导致汞中毒被送往医院。

While the European Food Safety Authority issued a new advisory notice on fish consumption earlier this year, it said that the types of fish consumed in Europe and fish-eating habits were so different across the continent that it was up to the individual countries to give specific advice.

尽管欧洲食品安全局(European Food Safety Authority)今年早些时候就鱼肉摄入发布了一项新的建议性通告，该局称欧洲各国食用的鱼肉种类和食用习惯相差极大，应该由各国提供具体建议。

Britain’s NHS has advice about canned tuna but not about sushi. The US Food and Drug Administration recently set its first minimum fish consumption target , emphasising the benefits of eating more low-mercury fish.

英国国家医疗服务体系(NHS)就金枪鱼罐头提出了建议，但没有对寿司提出建议。美国食品药品监督管理局(FDA)最近首次设定鱼肉最小摄入量指标，强调了食用更多低汞含量鱼的益处。

Given this confusion, I asked Michael Gochfeld, who has studied mercury toxicity for 30 years, what his best advice is about fish consumption.

考虑到这种混乱的状况，我询问了研究汞中毒长达30年的迈克尔戈克费尔德(Michael Gochfeld)，他对摄入鱼肉有什么好建议。

Dr Gochfeld, an adjunct clinical professor in the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute at New Jersey’s Rutgers University, said most people do eat too little fish, an excellent source of protein and omega-3 fatty acids, which have been shown in some studies to be protective against heart disease and cancer. But he acknowledged that there can be too much of a good thing.

戈克费尔德博士是新泽西州罗格斯大学(Rutgers University)环境和职业健康科学研究所的客座临床教授。他表示大多数人鱼肉摄入量太少。鱼类是理想的蛋白质和omega-3脂肪酸的来源。一些研究表明，这种脂肪酸能够预防心脏病和癌症。但他坦言，好事做过了头就成了坏事。

“If you eat fish rarely, such as less than once a month, it’s likely that your health will benefit from eating more fish,” Dr Gochfeld explains. “If you eat fish frequently, more than twice a week, you have to pay attention to eating low mercury fish if you don’t want to get food poisoning.”

“如果你很少吃鱼，比如一个月少于一次，那么食用更多鱼很可能有益于你的健康，”戈克费尔德博士解释称：“如果你经常吃鱼，一周超过两次，那么不想食物中毒的话，你就必须注意要食用汞含量低的鱼。”

Among the fish that have been found to have the highest mercury content are swordfish, shark, marlin and albacore tuna. “If you go to a high-end sushi bar in New York, the chances are the tuna sushi will be bigeye tuna with high mercury levels,” he says, adding that in Japan, sushi is a prized delicacy but eaten only once a month. Sushi is often made from fish other than tuna, which can be safe to eat in larger quantities.

汞含量最高的鱼类包括剑鱼、鲨鱼、枪鱼和长鳍金枪鱼。“如果你去纽约的高档寿司店，有可能金枪鱼寿司是用高汞含量的大目金枪鱼制作的，”他表示，并补充道，在日本，寿司是人们珍爱的美味，但人们一个月只食用一次。寿司通常是用金枪鱼以外的鱼类制作的，在大量食用的情况下，这些寿司可能较为安全。

This mercury warning is especially true for pregnant women. “Having even one meal with high mercury fish, like one swordfish serving, at the wrong time could have an impact on a developing foetus,” Dr Gochfeld cautions.

孕期女性尤其要注意汞中毒的警告。“在不适当的时机，就算只食用一次高汞含量的鱼，比如一道剑鱼菜肴，就可能影响发育中的胚胎，”戈克费尔德博士告诫。

While he loves tuna sushi himself, he restricts his consumption to once a month and eats low mercury fish such as salmon a couple of times a week.

尽管戈克费尔德博士本人也爱吃金枪鱼寿司，他把摄入量控制在每月一次，并且每周食用几次三文鱼等低汞含量鱼。

That advice is similar to the counsel from the British government, which says that pregnant women and young children should not eat swordfish, shark or marlin, and that other adults should limit their intake to one portion a week. As for me, I love salmon so that is my dietary mainstay, but also eat other low-mercury fish.

这个建议和英国政府提出的忠告相似，英国政府表示孕期妇女和幼童不宜食用剑鱼、鲨鱼或者枪鱼，其他成年人也应该将摄入量限制在一周一次。就我个人而言，我非常爱吃三文鱼，因此三文鱼是我食谱的主要组成部分，但我也吃其他低汞含量的鱼。