An iPhone app from Purdue University can help women who are pregnant or nursing safely eat seafood, a source of nutrients for babies but also the subject of concern about ingesting mercury and other contaminants.
The updated, complimentary app – Fish4Health – helps women track their intake of seafood, fish oil supplements, healthy fats and mercury.
Based on the latest research, the app also contains information on fish species from across the country.
The app is available in English, Spanish and traditional or simplified Chinese.
“Pregnant or nursing women should consume eight to 12 ounces of fish per week,” said Charles Santerre, professor of food toxicology and Purdue Extension specialist in the Department of Nutrition Science.
Santerre created the app, which is available at iTunes and Purdue Extension’s The Education Store.
Wallet card
There is an updated wallet card, with information about which commercial fish species are best to eat when women are expecting or nursing a baby, which is available online.
Recommendations on how much to eat are based on tests in Santerre’s lab for amounts of healthy fats, trace elements and heavy metals such as mercury.
“Some of the best fish choices are salmon, rainbow trout, whitefish, herring and sardines,” Santerre said.
“That’s because they are highest in healthy fats, like omega-3 fatty acids, and lowest in mercury content.”
He said babies are the most vulnerable to mercury contamination.
Health departments in Indiana and Florida distribute the wallet card.
The app and card are part of an educational effort funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.
The information helps women follow the US Dietary Guidelines and the revised Food and Drug Administration fish consumption advisory.
The additional information available online covers recommendations on fish that may be caught across the US.
The app was awarded the 2011 Babble Award for top 25 pregnancy apps.
Story by Beth Forbes of Purdue University.
