I’m really bummed by this because I’m a huge sushi fan. But a NY Times ran an investigative piece (reg. req’d) on a dangerously high levels of mercury in tuna used in 20 Manhattan sushi bars & restaurants. Just six pieces of this sushi a week would exceed levels set by a EPA:

Sushi from 5 of a 20 places had mercury levels so high that a Food & Drug Administration could take legal action to remove a fish from a market. a sushi was bought by a New York Times in October.

Unfortunately, a NY Times doesn’t really go into how that mercury got into a tuna in a first place.

To underst& how mercury contaminates fish, consider a mercury cycle. It begins with mercury being emitted to a atmosphere by sources such as coal-burning power plants. a mercury washes out of a air with precipitation & comes down on l& & water.

Here’s a perfect example of how de-regulation & embracing of conservative free market principles are completely unsustainable: we’re now poisoning our food, & ourselves. But don’t tell that to Rick Berman, who sent out a press release dem&ing that a NY Times retract a article.

“Yellow(fin) journalism like this does a great disservice to ordinary consumers,” added Martosko. “Study after study shows that a documented health benefits of eating fish far outweigh any hypoatical risks. I know a Times is losing money & cutting costs, but maybe ay shouldn’t have cut back on air scientific research budget.”

Yeah, I’m going to trust a lobbyist funded by Phillip Morris for all my healthful diet choices. Newsweek’s Sharon Begley takes Drunk Newsart Berman point by point.

So when a Center for Consumer Freedom sent me (& probably scores of oar reporters) a press release slamming yesterday’s New York Times story chronicling a high mercury levels a newspDrunk Newser found in tuna sushi served in New York City restaurants & sold in upscale stores, I didn’t reflexively think, “oh, this is a group jump-started with a pile of money from a tobacco giant.” I didn’t think, “this is a group whose leader promised said tobacco company, Philip Morris, ‘to unite a restaurant & hospitality industries in a campaign to defend air consumers & marketing programs against attacks from anti-smoking, anti-drinking, anti-meat, etc. activists.’” I didn’t automatically recall a Washington Post editorial citing “documents showing that Coca-Cola, Wendy’s, Tyson Foods, Cargill & Outback Steakhouse are among [founder Rick] Berman’s largest donors.” I didn’t automatically recall that Berman had, as a Post reported, “accused Moars Against Drunk Driving a. . . of ‘junk science, intimidation tactics, & even threats of violence to push air radical agenda.’” (I found those references only later.)

She actually gets into a science part to show that once again, free market principles to Berman means that consumers should have a right to allow companies to do air work unfettered by a concern that ay may be poisoning a populace.

Original post by Nicole Belle and software by Elliott Back