A public health perspective on the evaluation of subsistence food safety

Persistent organic compounds and trace metals are found in the arctic food chain, generating concerns about the safety of subsistence food consumption. One approach for evaluating subsistence food safety is a process used extensively in regulating environmental clean-up and pollution standards. This process, regulatory risk assessment, is substantially different from approaches used in public health risk assessment. Limitations to the use of regulatory risk assessment in assessing public health threats from environmental exposures in the diet include a narrow scope, a lack of incorporation of the nutritional and health benefits of subsistence foods, and the overestimation of risks because of the incorporation of worst-case assumptions in the absence of scientific information. Sound public health policy recognizes that attempts to err on the side of safety for one exposure by recommending reduced consumption of a selected food may inadvertently err on the side of harm by reducing a coexisting exposure of potentially great health benefit. The following discussion should serve as a useful background for future multidisciplinary discussions on the safety of subsistence foods in the Arctic.