Poison fish jerky

A Chico State alumna and professor recently published a study that found dangerously high levels of mercury in fish jerky.

Dr. Jane Hightower, author of Diagnosis Mercury: Money, Politics and Poison and was the first in the medical community to warn the public about the pervasiveness of mercury contamination in top-predator fish, conducted the study with geoscientist Dr. David Brown, chairman of the Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences at Chico State, according to a university press release. Their findings were published in the peer-reviewed scientific publication the Journal of Environmental Health.

The study shows marlin jerky had mercury levels as high as 5 parts per million—five times higher than the limit set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Ahi tuna and salmon jerky contained levels as high as .5 parts per million.