Yesterday we were watching the teen chopped tournament and then the kids chopped show after and I don’t remember which one but one had a whole tilefish in the basket
And I remarked that tilefish were on food safety list because of mercury content and such and the fact that its a bottom cleaner and eats some really bad stuff its self …
same thing with swai …
So are they safe to eat or no ?
The USDA website has an article about food safety regarding fish that indicates that tilefish are a type of fish that can accumlate mercury:https://www.ars.usda.gov/plains-area/gfnd/gfhnrc/docs/news-2013/eat-fish-which-fish-that-fish-go-fish/
The non-profit Natural Resources Defense Council has a Smart Seafood Buying Guide online at https://www.nrdc.org/stories/smart-seafood-buying-guide?gclid=CPS9kaP7gNACFQkHhgodLAoHmQ which includes a chart that indicates mercury levels in various fish. At the date of publication in 2015 Tilefish was listed as a fish in the moderate mercury category, with recommended intake of 6 servings or less per month.
wow thanks for that I forgot that I even asked that …
The couple times I’ve eaten tilefish it’s been exceptionally delicious. My understanding is that their diet is largely responsible for their delicate flavor since they eat primarily shrimp and crabs.