Overview

• The Agriculture Ministry said state checks and industry self-monitoring have identified no breaches of the 1 mg/kg mercury threshold for tuna.
• Eight municipalities including Paris and Lyon have temporarily removed tuna from school canteens to reduce children’s exposure to mercury.
• The cities say tuna will return only if the permitted mercury level for tuna is lowered to 0.3 mg/kg.
• Bloom and Foodwatch reported in 2024 that all 148 canned samples contained mercury and that more than half exceeded the 0.3 mg/kg limit used for other fish, estimating canned tuna can reach about 2.7 mg/kg.
• The canned-food industry federation maintains products meet regulations and disputes the NGOs’ protocol, as Paris phases out tuna over the coming weeks with recipe changes.