Summary

In a recent release, FDA has made available two draft documents, the Report of Quantitative Risk and Benefit Assessment of Commercial Fish Consumption, Focusing on Fetal Neurodevelopmental Effects (Measured by Verbal Development in Children and on Coronary Heart Disease and Stroke in the General Population) and Summary of Published Research on the Beneficial Effects of Fish Consumption and Omega-3 Fatty Acids for Certain Neurodevelopmental and Cardiovascular Endpoints.  Mercatus commented on these risk analyses and suggested that the risk/benefit approach is superior to past approaches using safety levels and further suggested that the risk/benefit approach be applied for all problems that involved communication to consumers about product risks and benefits.