# isnt tilefish on the not to eat lists becuase of pollution? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 23, 2016, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-tilefish-on-the-not-to-eat-lists-becuase-of-pollution/763703 "2016-08-23T01:14:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2016, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-tilefish-on-the-not-to-eat-lists-becuase-of-pollution/763703/1 "2016-08-23T01:14:33Z")
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 ? ---
**Author:** ![Debs181](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@Debs181](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Debs181)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-tilefish-on-the-not-to-eat-lists-becuase-of-pollution/763703/2 "2016-10-29T21:50:09Z")
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/](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](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. ---
**Author:** ![nightshadea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/7ba0ec/32.png) [@nightshadea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nightshadea)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2016, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-tilefish-on-the-not-to-eat-lists-becuase-of-pollution/763703/3 "2016-10-29T21:57:04Z")
wow thanks for that I forgot that I even asked that … ---
**Author:** ![FoieGrasIsEvil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foiegrasisevil/32/16638_2.png) [@FoieGrasIsEvil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoieGrasIsEvil)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2016, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/isnt-tilefish-on-the-not-to-eat-lists-becuase-of-pollution/763703/4 "2016-10-30T01:11:46Z")
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.