Risk assessmentindependent cross-checkabstract checked★ key study I-FSH-101 in-depth review
FAO/WHO 2024: benefits and risks of eating fish
Joint FAO/WHO expert consultation on the risks and benefits of fish consumption: meeting report, Rome, 9-13 October 2023 (Food Safety and Quality Series No. 28)
Overview
FAO/WHO. FAO/WHO report 2024 · DOI 10.4060/cd2394en
Strong evidence for benefits of eating fish in pregnancy, childhood and adulthood; methylmercury can reduce the brain benefit in some populations.
Does the study support the specific claim? Partly · Methodological quality: high
Plain-language summary
Study explained simply
- What did the researchers want to find out?
Update the 2010 benefit-risk conclusions.
- How was the study done?
Expert consultation based on a systematic review.
- How many people, animals or samples were studied?
Global literature.
- What was actually found?
Benefits at all life stages; MeHg can reduce the neurodevelopmental benefit; dioxin evidence mostly from highly exposed groups.
- How large was the observed effect?
Not quantified in the parts read.
- What do the results mean in everyday life?
Eat fish, and choose species lower in mercury.
- What are the study's limitations?
Summary chapters read; no farmed-wild comparison.
- What does it say about Elawady's specific claim?
Supports eating fish, but not the idea that any wild sea fish is 'clean'.
- Do the results apply to Germany and Europe?
High.
- What can explicitly not be concluded from this study?
Species-specific limits for Egypt.
Scientific in-depth review
1. Full reference
- Authors
- FAO/WHO
- Journal
- FAO/WHO report
- Year
- 2024
- Identifier
- DOI 10.4060/cd2394en
- Verification
- verified – WHO publication page and full PDF (iris.who.int bitstream 029d2553-bc01-4aaa-a4be-422ce33a730a) fetched 2026-10-26; DOI checked via Crossref
- Retracted
- no
- Corrections
- none
- Extent checked
- abstract only
- Conflicts of interest and funding
FAO/WHO; experts selected through a global call
2. Research question
What are the health benefits of fish consumption and the risks from methylmercury, dioxins and dl-PCBs, including the role of selenium?
3. Study design and population
- Study design
- Risk assessment – International expert consultation based on a commissioned systematic literature review (Norwegian Institute of Marine Research); executive summary, conclusions, recommendations and research-gap chapter read
- Population
General population; pregnancy, childhood, adulthood
- Country
Global
- Period
Literature since 2010; meeting October 2023
- Sample size
Not applicable
- Inclusion and exclusion criteria
Finfish and shellfish, marine or freshwater, farmed or wild; marine mammals and algae excluded
4. Methods and endpoints
- Exposure / intervention
Fish consumption; MeHg, dioxins and dl-PCBs in fish
- Comparator
Low or no fish consumption
- Endpoints
Birth outcomes, neurodevelopment, cardiovascular and neurological disease, toxic effects
- Statistical methods
Weight-of-evidence grading
5. Actual results
- Results
'Strong evidence exists for the benefits of total fish consumption during all life stages: pregnancy, childhood and adulthood.' 'Maternal fish consumption during pregnancy is associated with improved offspring neurological development, despite evidence from some populations showing that MeHg exposure from fish consumption in early life ... has been associated with less neurodevelopmental benefit expected from fish consumption.' 'Limited evidence of adverse health effects from MeHg exposure' in adulthood. Evidence on dioxins and dl-PCBs is 'mainly from populations highly exposed'. Research gap: future research should differentiate 'capture vs aquaculture'.
- Absolute risks
not reported
- Authors' conclusion
Member nations should emphasise the benefits of fish across the life course and build regional data on MeHg, dioxins, dl-PCBs and nutrients to refine advice.
6. Strengths
- Most recent international benefit-risk assessment
- Based on a systematic review
7. Weaknesses
- Only summary, conclusion and research-gap chapters read
- No species-level consumption limits
- Does not compare farmed and wild fish
8. Risk of bias
- Orienting tool
- none applicable
- Type of assessment
- simplified assessment (abstract only)
- Full formal assessment
- no
- Overall risk of bias
- not assessable
- Rationale
Official expert consultation.
9. Assessment of the statistical interpretation
10. Relevance to the specific claim
C-FSH-14: benefits of fish in pregnancy and childhood; MeHg can reduce the benefit. C-FSH-02: farmed versus wild not differentiated (listed as a data gap).
11. Independent contrary findings
12. Transferability to Germany and Europe
High.
13. Overall methodological judgement
Authoritative; supports eating fish, including in pregnancy, with attention to methylmercury.
| Multidimensional assessment | |
|---|---|
| Authenticity of the source | verified |
| Methodological quality | high |
| Risk of bias | not assessable |
| Precision of results | not applicable |
| Directness | direct |
| Reproducibility | replicated |
| Consistency with the overall evidence | consistent |
| Regional transferability | high |
| Adequacy of the interpretation (by the archive) | not applicable |
14. Open questions
15. Linked fact checks
- Natural wild sea fish is the cleanest food you can get; wild sea fish (including large predators such as grouper/hamour, tuna, and smoked mackerel) is allowed while farmed fish is forbidden. – Studies with mixed or unclear results
- Farmed fish today accumulate PCBs, dioxins and PBDEs at concentrations significantly higher than in their wild counterparts (present-tense generalisation in the archive summary). – Studies contradicting or limiting the claim