Nutrition · Seafood · Food Safety

Fish You Should Never Eat: 12 to Skip, Plus the Safest Fish to Choose

The 12 fish I'd leave at the counter and why, what the FDA's mercury data shows for each one, the truth about farmed fish and tilapia, and the small, wild, clean fish worth eating every week.

By Dr. Josh Axe, DC, DNM, CNS·14-min read

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Evidence-based29 sources citedUpdated September 23, 2026

Published Aug 1, 2026Last updated Sep 26, 2026Editorial policyMedical review policyFact-checking policy

Fish is one of the best foods on the planet. Which fish, and where it came from, decides whether you get the benefit or the burden.

Fish to skip at a glance

The seven fish on the federal "avoid" list are Gulf of Mexico tilefish, swordfish, shark, king mackerel, bigeye tuna, orange roughy and marlin, all averaging more than 0.46 parts per million of mercury. I'd also skip escolar, shellfish, unverified imported farmed fish, locally caught freshwater fish from unchecked waters, and any fish you can't trace, starting with "red snapper." Everything else, especially sardines, anchovies, wild salmon, Atlantic mackerel and herring, is food I want you eating more of, not less.

The mercury rule: big, old, predatory fish carry the most; small, fast-growing fish barely register
The safe target: 8–12 ounces of low-mercury fish a week, including during pregnancy
The buying rule: small over large, wild over unverified farmed, fins and scales, traceable over anonymous
Eating too little fish in pregnancy carries a measurable cost of its own

Fish is one of the healthiest foods on earth, and a handful of species are responsible for almost all of the risk.

A fish looks like a simple piece of protein. Biologically, it's a record of the water it lived in and the food it ate. That's why two fillets of the same species from different oceans, or from two different farms, aren't the same food. The question at the counter isn't "is fish healthy?" It's "what did this fish eat, how long did it live, and where did it come from?"

I want you eating more fish, not less. The goal of this guide is to help you skip the few that carry the burden and fill your plate with the many that carry the benefit. Below are the 12 I'd skip and why, the facts on farmed fish and tilapia, and exactly what to buy instead.

You are what you eat, or, when you eat animal-based foods, you are what they ate.Dr. Josh Axe

Mercury builds up with size and lifespan. The seven avoid-list fish carry up to about 85 times the mercury of a sardine.
	Average mercury, parts per million
Gulf of Mexico tilefish	1.123	Avoid
Swordfish	0.995	Avoid
Shark	0.979	Avoid
King mackerel	0.730	Avoid
Bigeye tuna	0.689	Avoid
Orange roughy	0.571	Avoid
Marlin	0.485	Avoid
0.46 ppm federal "avoid" cutoff
Grouper	0.448	Limit to 1 serving a week
Albacore tuna, canned	0.350	Limit to 1 serving a week
Halibut	0.241	Limit to 1 serving a week
Canned light tuna	0.126	Best choices
Cod	0.111	Best choices
Herring	0.078	Best choices
Trout, freshwater	0.071	Best choices
Atlantic mackerel	0.050	Best choices
Salmon, fresh or frozen	0.022	Best choices
Anchovies	0.016	Best choices
Sardines	0.013	Best choices

Source: FDA, Mercury Levels in Commercial Fish and Shellfish (1990–2012)

At a glance

Skip

12 fish · 7 for high mercury, 5 for other reasons: wax esters, drug residues, forever chemicals, bacteria and fraud.

Federal "avoid" cutoff

0.46 ppm · Average mercury above this puts a fish on the FDA/EPA Choices to Avoid list.

Weekly target

8–12 oz · Of low-mercury fish a week; one adult serving is 4 ounces raw.

Best picks

Small & wild · Sardines, anchovies, wild salmon, Atlantic mackerel and herring.

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Why do some fish carry so much mercury?

Quick answer

Mercury from coal burning, mining and industrial waste settles into water, where bacteria turn it into methylmercury. Small organisms absorb it, small fish eat them, bigger fish eat those, and each step concentrates the load. A large predator that lives for decades carries the mercury of everything beneath it in the food chain.

That one mechanism explains almost the entire avoid list. In the FDA's monitoring data, Gulf of Mexico tilefish average 1.123 ppm of mercury, swordfish 0.995 and shark 0.979, with one shark sample reaching 4.54 ppm. At the other end of the same table, sardines average 0.013 ppm, anchovies 0.016 and fresh salmon 0.022.1 Tilefish carry roughly 85 times the mercury of a sardine.

This matters most for the developing brain. Methylmercury crosses the placenta, and the EPA notes that children exposed in the womb can see effects on thinking, memory, attention, language, fine motor and visual-spatial skills.2 The two best long-running studies show why the source of the fish matters. In the Faroe Islands, where mercury came largely from pilot whale meat, children showed measurable deficits in language, attention and memory.3 In the Seychelles, where mothers ate ocean fish about 12 times a week, researchers found essentially no harm.4 Ocean fish deliver their trace of mercury packaged with selenium, iodine and omega-3s, which is why the answer is to change which fish you eat, not to stop eating fish.

How the federal categories work

FDA/EPA advice about eating fish (one adult serving = 4 oz raw)
Category	Average mercury	Guidance
Best Choices	Up to 0.15 ppm (3 servings a week) or 0.23 ppm (2 servings)	Eat 2–3 servings a week
Good Choices	Up to 0.46 ppm	Eat 1 serving a week
Choices to Avoid	Above 0.46 ppm	Highest mercury; skip

A simple rule of thumb: if a fish is big, old and eats other fish, it doesn't belong in your weekly rotation.5

The 12 fish I'd skip

Quick answer

Seven fish sit on the federal avoid list for mercury alone. Five more earn a skip for reasons that never show up on a mercury chart: indigestible wax esters, the fins-and-scales standard and drug residues, forever chemicals, and fraud. I built this list from the FDA's mercury data first, then documented non-mercury hazards, then how reliably the fish can be traced.

Gulf of Mexico tilefish

Avoid list1.123 ppm mercury

The highest mercury of any fish the FDA monitors, averaging 1.123 ppm with a maximum of 3.73.1 Atlantic tilefish is a different fish at 0.144 ppm, but the two can be sold under the same name, which alone is a reason to pass.

Why skip: the highest average mercury of any commercial fish.

Swordfish

Avoid list0.995 ppm mercury

Swordfish grow large, live long and eat other predators. They average 0.995 ppm of mercury, with samples as high as 3.22.1 One 4-ounce serving carries more mercury than 40 servings of wild salmon.

Why skip: one of the most consistently high-mercury fish in the FDA's data.

Shark

Avoid list0.979 ppm mercury

Shark averages 0.979 ppm of mercury, and one sample hit 4.54 ppm, the highest single reading in the FDA's dataset.1 Fin clips from seven South Florida shark species also all tested positive for BMAA, a neurotoxin made by cyanobacteria.6 That's a detection study rather than a health-outcome study, but with mercury this high, one reason is enough.

Why skip: the highest single mercury reading on record.

King mackerel

Avoid list0.73 ppm mercury

This is the one that catches people, because mackerel as a group is excellent. King mackerel averages 0.73 ppm, about 15 times the mercury of Atlantic mackerel at 0.05 ppm, which is a Best Choice.1 5 Read the first word on the label, not the second.

Why skip: it hides behind the good reputation of its own family.

Bigeye tuna

Avoid list0.689 ppm mercury

The only tuna on the federal avoid list, averaging 0.689 ppm.1 5 It's often what you're eating when a sushi menu says "ahi" without naming the species. Canned light tuna, at 0.126 ppm, is the tuna to buy.

Why skip: the tuna most likely to be served without being named.

Orange roughy

Avoid list0.571 ppm mercury

Orange roughy averages 0.571 ppm1 because it lives so long. NOAA notes this deep-sea fish can live more than 100 years.7 A century of accumulated mercury is the predictable result. The FDA also lists orange roughy among the deep-sea fish that carry smaller amounts of the same indigestible wax esters found in escolar.8

Why skip: a fish that can outlive you has been collecting mercury the whole time.

Marlin

Avoid list0.485 ppm mercury

An apex predator like swordfish, marlin averages 0.485 ppm, just over the federal cutoff.1 5 It offers nothing nutritionally that a lower-mercury fish doesn't.

Why skip: over the federal cutoff, with better options everywhere.

Escolar ("white tuna" or "butterfish")

FDA advises againstWax esters

This one isn't about mercury. Escolar and oilfish naturally contain high concentrations of gempylotoxins, indigestible wax esters that can cause diarrhea, cramps, nausea, headache and vomiting, and the FDA advises against importing or marketing these fish at all.8 It still shows up on sushi menus as "white tuna" or "super white tuna," so ask.

Why skip: a fish the FDA advises against selling, sold under a name that hides it.

Shellfish: shrimp, oysters, scallops, clams, lobster and crab

My standardNo fins or scales

Shellfish are low in mercury, so this one isn't on the federal avoid list. I skip them because they don't meet the standard I follow from The Biblio Diet: fish with fins and scales.9 There are practical reasons too. In a decade of government inspection data, most veterinary drug violations were found in farm-raised seafood, and Asian shrimp and prawns were among the products most often in violation,10 while a federal audit found the FDA tested only about 0.1% of imported seafood for drug residues.11 A 2021 survey of 68 retail shrimp samples found no antibiotic residues,12 so the problem may be smaller than the enforcement data suggests. Raw oysters carry a separate risk. The CDC estimates about 80,000 Vibrio infections a year in the U.S., and about 1 in 5 people with Vibrio vulnificus infection die.13

Why skip: outside the fins-and-scales standard, with drug-residue and bacterial risks on top.

Imported farmed fish you can't verify

Oversight gapDrug residues

Farming changes what a fish eats, and oversight varies widely by country. The same decade of inspection data found farmed catfish, tilapia, eel and Chilean salmon from Asia and South America among the seafood most frequently in violation for drug residues,10 and the FDA screened for 16 unapproved drugs where the EU screened for about 31 and Japan about 57.11 In Heal Your Cells, I advise avoiding farmed fish and processed meats.14

Why skip: the weakest oversight sits where the most violations are found.

Locally caught freshwater fish from unchecked waters

Check firstPFAS

This is the one almost nobody has on their radar. Across more than 500 fish fillet samples from the EPA's national river, stream and Great Lakes monitoring, median PFAS levels in locally caught freshwater fish were 278 times higher than in the commercial fish the FDA tested, and one serving at the median PFOS level equaled roughly a month of drinking water at 48 parts per trillion.15 Three of the four authors work for an environmental advocacy group, but the samples are the EPA's own. If you fish, check your state advisory before you eat the catch.

Why skip: the highest documented forever-chemical exposure from fish in the American diet.

Any fish you can't verify, starting with "red snapper"

Mislabeling1 in 3 mislabeled

A 2025 analysis pooling 35 U.S. studies and 4,179 samples found 39.1% of seafood was mislabeled, including 26.2% sold as the wrong species.16 In an earlier DNA study of 1,215 samples, 87% of fish sold as snapper were mislabeled, and only 7 of 120 "red snapper" samples were red snapper. Mislabeling ran 74% at sushi restaurants and 18% at grocery stores.17

Why skip: careful shopping doesn't help if the label is wrong.

Four markers that show whether your fish is helping or hurting

If you eat fish often, these markers show whether mercury is building up, whether you're getting enough omega-3s, and whether your selenium and inflammation are where they should be. Ranges are functional medicine optimal ranges, the window where the body heals and functions optimally. Blood mercury reflects your recent intake; these markers can't tell you which fish it came from or whether a particular fish is safe for you.

Blood mercury · Optimal: under 5 µg/L · Rises with high-mercury fish
Omega-3 Index · Optimal: 8–12% · EPA and DHA in your red blood cells
Selenium · Optimal: 120–150 ng/mL · Binds mercury and protects the thyroid
hs-CRP · Optimal: under 1.0 mg/L · Low-grade inflammation anywhere in the body

See the mercury & omega-3 panel

Upload a recent panel and get every marker read against functional ranges in minutes. The panel page shows exactly what's included, how the draw works and who reviews the results.

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Fish to eat with a limit, not a ban

These fish sit in the federal Good Choices tier, averaging at or below 0.46 ppm of mercury, and are fine at one 4-ounce serving a week. They're not fish to fear; they're fish to schedule.

Good Choices fish with the highest mercury (FDA data)
Fish	Average mercury	Sensible limit
Grouper	0.448 ppm	1 serving a week
Chilean sea bass	0.354 ppm	1 serving a week
Yellowfin tuna	0.354 ppm	1 serving a week
Albacore ("white") tuna, canned	0.350 ppm	1 serving a week
Halibut	0.241 ppm	1 serving a week
Mahi mahi	0.178 ppm	1 serving a week

If you eat canned tuna, the easiest swap is light over white. Canned light tuna averages 0.126 ppm and is a Best Choice, while albacore averages 0.350 ppm and is capped at one serving a week.1 5 Same aisle, same price, about a third of the mercury.

Is farmed fish bad for you?

Quick answer

Farming changes what a fish eats, which changes its fat and its contaminants. I choose wild, ocean-caught fish, because wild is the shortest route to a diet I don't have to investigate. The research has shifted over two decades. Modern farmed salmon from well-monitored farms can carry fewer contaminants than older studies found, but it also has less DHA and a worse omega-3 to omega-6 balance than wild.

My position has been consistent. In Heal Your Cells I advise avoiding farmed fish,14 and in The Biblio Diet the guidance is wild, ocean-caught fish with fins and scales.9 Here's what the research shows on both sides.

The case against farmed salmon. A landmark 2004 analysis of about 700 salmon found PCBs, dioxins, toxaphene and dieldrin significantly higher in farmed salmon than in wild, with the highest levels in salmon farmed in Scotland and the Faroe Islands.18
What's changed since. Across more than 2,300 Norwegian farmed salmon samples, mercury, arsenic, dioxins, dioxin-like PCBs and DDT all declined from 1999 to 2011,19 and a 2017 comparison found contaminants lower in farmed Atlantic salmon than in wild, with both well under EU limits.20
What hasn't changed. That same 2017 study, titled for its finding of lower contaminants and lower DHA, found farmed salmon had more omega-6 fat and a considerably lower omega-3 to omega-6 ratio than wild.20 Better contaminant numbers aren't the same as better fat.
The color. Farmed salmon get their pink from astaxanthin or canthaxanthin added to feed; wild salmon get astaxanthin from the krill and shrimp they eat. The EU cut its canthaxanthin limit for salmon and trout feed from 80 to 25 mg/kg in 2003 over concerns about intake.21

The improvements come from farms under close monitoring, and they don't describe farms in countries with weaker oversight, which is where the drug-residue violations concentrate.10 "Farmed" isn't one thing, and neither is "wild." When the sourcing is transparent, buy the better fish. When it isn't, buy the smaller one.

Is tilapia bad for you?

Quick answer

Tilapia isn't dangerous, and it's very low in mercury at 0.013 ppm. The concern is nutritional. Farmed tilapia is low in omega-3s and relatively high in the omega-6 fat arachidonic acid, so it gives you lean protein without the main reason to eat fish. The claim that it's "worse than bacon" doesn't appear in the research it's attributed to.

Tilapia averages 0.013 ppm of mercury, the same as sardines, and it's a federal Best Choice.1 5 The concern comes from a 2008 analysis of fish bought in U.S. stores, which found tilapia and catfish had much lower omega-3s and very high ratios of long-chain omega-6 to omega-3 fats, with tilapia averaging 134 mg of arachidonic acid per serving and a ratio to EPA of about 11 to 1.22 Wild tilapia generally carry more omega-3s than farmed, and farm feed can change the balance.23

So tilapia doesn't belong on a never-eat list, but I wouldn't build a week around it either. Most tilapia is farmed, often imported, and it carries little of the omega-3 fat that makes fish worth eating. Spend your fish meals on wild salmon, sardines and anchovies, which do in one meal what a month of tilapia won't.

What are the safest fish to eat?

Quick answer

The safest fish are small, fast-growing, low on the food chain and rich in omega-3s. Sardines, anchovies, wild salmon, Atlantic mackerel, herring and trout all combine very low mercury with high EPA and DHA, and all have fins and scales.

Low-mercury fish to build your week around (FDA data)
Fish	Average mercury	Why I recommend it
Sardines	0.013 ppm	The best mercury-to-omega-3 trade in the case
Canned salmon	0.014 ppm	Cheap, shelf-stable and clean
Anchovies	0.016 ppm	Whole small fish, eaten bones and all
Wild salmon	0.022 ppm	The omega-3 benchmark
Pollock	0.031 ppm	Mild, lean and affordable
Atlantic mackerel	0.050 ppm	Rich in omega-3s; not king mackerel
Haddock	0.055 ppm	Lean, flaky white fish
Trout (freshwater)	0.071 ppm	A good omega-3 source
Herring	0.078 ppm	Traditional, inexpensive, under-eaten
Cod	0.111 ppm	Lean and mild; pair with a fatty fish across the week
Canned light tuna	0.126 ppm	The tuna to buy

The upside of eating these fish is strong. An umbrella meta-analysis found omega-3s lowered the inflammatory markers CRP, IL-6 and TNF-α across adult populations,24 and pooled trials found DHA and EPA improved episodic memory in adults with mild memory complaints.25 The anti-inflammatory effect shows up most where inflammation is already raised; in healthy adults, fish oil didn't lower CRP or IL-6,26 which is one more reason I put the plate before the capsule. See my guides to sardines, wild salmon and the healthiest fish to eat.

Not sure about the fish in your cart?

Ask Dr. Axe AI about any fish, your pregnancy, or your kids, and get a clear answer with amounts. Answers are grounded in this library, with sources shown.

How much fish should you eat?

Quick answer

Aim for 8 to 12 ounces of low-mercury fish a week, including during pregnancy and breastfeeding. One adult serving is 4 ounces measured raw, about the size of your palm. Children's servings scale with age.

For people who are pregnant or might become pregnant, and for children ages 1 to 11, the FDA and EPA advise 2 to 3 servings a week from the Best Choices list, or 1 from Good Choices. Children's servings are about 1 ounce at ages 1 to 3, 2 ounces at 4 to 7, 3 ounces at 8 to 10, and 4 ounces from age 11.5

Eating too little fish during pregnancy carries a real cost of its own. In a British cohort of 11,875 pregnancies, children of mothers who ate no seafood were more likely to score in the lowest quarter for verbal IQ at age 8 than children of mothers who ate more than 340 grams a week, with an odds ratio of 1.48. Low intake also tracked with poorer social, communication and fine motor development, and the lower the intake, the higher the risk.27 The FDA's own modeling reached the same place. It estimated an average benefit of nearly 0.7 IQ points from mothers eating commercial fish, and found pregnant American women eat slightly less than 2 ounces a week, a fraction of the recommendation.28 Fear of mercury has kept many mothers from the fish their babies need.

Does selenium protect against mercury?

Selenium binds methylmercury and appears to blunt its toxicity, and most fish carry more selenium than mercury. In one river basin, every one of 10 freshwater species had a selenium-to-mercury ratio above 1 to 1, ranging from 3.42 in walleye to 27.2 in Chinook salmon, though the researchers said more work is needed before the ratios can guide advice.29 It's likely part of why the Seychelles children did so well, but it isn't a reason to order swordfish. Two Brazil nuts a day is the simplest selenium source there is.

What I do at the fish counter

I buy small, wild, fins-and-scales fish I can trace. Sardines, anchovies and wild salmon carry the rotation, I ask for the species and the country, and I simply don't buy the big predators.

Small over large

A fish that lives 2 years can't collect what a fish that lives 40 does.

Fins and scales

Wild, ocean-caught fish with fins and scales, the Biblio Diet standard.

Name the species and country

If the counter can't tell you both, you're buying a label, not a fish.

Canned counts

Canned wild salmon, sardines and light tuna are cheap, clean and shelf-stable.

Who should be most careful

Quick answer

Pregnant and breastfeeding women, women planning a pregnancy, young children, and anyone with liver disease or a weakened immune system need tighter rules. The changes are specific. Stay with the Best Choices list, skip the high-mercury fish entirely, and skip raw seafood.

If you've been eating high-mercury fish often, the first step is simply changing what you buy. A blood mercury test shows where you stand, and my guides to mercury poisoning and heavy metal detox cover the symptoms and the foods and habits that support your body's own clearance.

Good to know before you shop

Pregnant, breastfeeding or planning a pregnancy: eat 2–3 servings a week from the Best Choices list and skip all seven high-mercury fish5
Children under 12: the same list, with servings scaled by age5
Liver disease, diabetes or a weakened immune system: skip raw oysters and other raw shellfish entirely13
If you fish local waters: check your state advisory before eating the catch, especially near the Great Lakes15
Frequent sushi eaters: ask what "white tuna" is, and assume unnamed "ahi" may be bigeye8

What is the unhealthiest fish to eat?

By the mercury data, Gulf of Mexico tilefish, which averages 1.123 ppm, the highest of any fish the FDA monitors. Swordfish and shark follow at 0.995 and 0.979 ppm. All three are on the federal Choices to Avoid list.

What fish should you never eat?

The seven fish on the federal avoid list: Gulf of Mexico tilefish, swordfish, shark, king mackerel, bigeye tuna, orange roughy and marlin. I'd also skip escolar, shellfish, unverified imported farmed fish, locally caught freshwater fish from unchecked waters, and any fish you can't trace, starting with red snapper.

Why do fish have mercury?

Mercury from coal burning, mining and industrial waste settles into water, where bacteria turn it into methylmercury. It concentrates at each step up the food chain, so big, long-lived predators carry far more than small fish.

What are the safest fish to eat?

Small, fast-growing, low-mercury fish rich in omega-3s: sardines, anchovies, wild salmon, Atlantic mackerel, herring, trout, pollock, haddock and cod, plus canned light tuna.

Is tilapia bad for you?

Tilapia isn't dangerous and is very low in mercury at 0.013 ppm. The concern is nutritional. Farmed tilapia is low in omega-3s and relatively high in omega-6 arachidonic acid. It's lean protein, but wild salmon, sardines and anchovies are far better sources of omega-3s.

Is farmed salmon safe to eat?

A 2004 study found significantly higher PCBs and dioxins in farmed salmon than wild, while newer data from well-monitored Norwegian farms shows contaminants declining. Farmed salmon still has less DHA and a worse omega-3 to omega-6 balance than wild. I choose wild when I can.

Is canned tuna safe to eat every day?

Daily is more than I'd do. Canned light tuna averages 0.126 ppm of mercury and is fine at 2 to 3 servings a week; canned albacore averages 0.350 ppm and is limited to one serving a week. Rotate in sardines and canned wild salmon.

Why don't you recommend shellfish?

Shellfish don't have fins and scales, the standard I follow from The Biblio Diet. Imported farmed shrimp also comes with a documented drug-residue oversight gap, and raw oysters carry a risk of Vibrio infection.

Is catfish healthy?

Catfish is low in mercury at 0.024 ppm, but it has no scales, so it doesn't meet the fins-and-scales standard I follow, and imported farmed catfish is among the seafood most often flagged for drug residues. It's also low in omega-3s.

Can I eat fish while pregnant?

Yes, and most pregnant women should eat more. The FDA and EPA recommend 8 to 12 ounces a week of low-mercury fish, and in a cohort of 11,875 pregnancies, children of mothers who ate no seafood were more likely to score in the lowest quarter for verbal IQ at age 8.

Is the fish I buy really what the label says?

Often not. A 2025 analysis of 4,179 samples found 39.1% of U.S. seafood was mislabeled, and an earlier study found 87% of fish sold as snapper were mislabeled. Buy from a counter that can name the species and the country.

Is it safe to eat fish I catch myself?

Check your state advisory first. Locally caught freshwater fish carried median PFAS levels 278 times higher than commercial fish tested by the FDA.

The bottom line

Should you stop eating fish?

No. The risk in seafood is concentrated in a small set of species, and it's predictable from size, lifespan and sourcing. Seven fish clear the federal mercury threshold for avoidance, a handful more belong on a once-a-week schedule, and escolar, shellfish, unverified imported farmed fish, unchecked local catch and untraceable "red snapper" round out the list for reasons that have nothing to do with mercury. That's 12 fish out of dozens at a typical counter.

Skip those 12, and put sardines, anchovies, wild salmon, Atlantic mackerel, herring and canned light tuna into a weekly rotation of 8 to 12 ounces. Ask the counter for the species and the country, and buy small, wild and traceable. That's how you get the omega-3s, protein and minerals that make fish one of the best foods on earth, without the burden.

Freshness & method note

What changed in this update (September 23, 2026) — Brought up to the current DrAxe.com article standard: added an at-a-glance summary and jump menu; simplified headings and kept quick answers for the key questions; replaced the illustration with the DrAxe.com photo; clarified what the bloodwork markers can and can't show; removed unconfirmed review claims; and synchronized dates with the structured data.

What changed in this update (September 2026) — Rebuilt around what to skip and what to buy; aligned with the fins-and-scales standard from The Biblio Diet, moving shellfish to the skip list and replacing them in the safest-fish table with pollock, haddock and trout; added unverified imported farmed fish to the skip list; corrected the swordfish-to-salmon comparison (one serving of swordfish carries the mercury of more than 40 servings of salmon); added an FDA mercury chart; verified every mercury value against the current FDA table and spot-checked key studies against their PubMed abstracts.

References

Dr. Josh Axe, DC, DNM, CNS

Doctor of Natural Medicine · Founder, DrAxe.com

Dr. Axe is a certified doctor of natural medicine, clinical nutritionist, and multiple New York Times bestselling author. He has spent 20+ years in clinical practice helping people heal at the root cause and founded one of the most-visited natural-health platforms in the world.

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