SACRAMENTO, CA - May 12 - Today during the busy lunch hour (between 12:00 noon and 1:30 PM), one week before Safeway's National Shareholder's meeting, protesters are converging on the Safeway Store at 1025 Alhambra (at J Street) in Sacramento to protest Safeway's ongoing selling of swordfish and its inadequate placement of Proposition 65-mandated mercury health warning signs throughout the Sacramento region. According the FDA and EPA, swordfish contains high levels of mercury, which is toxic to developing fetuses and children and should not be eaten by pregnant women and children.

"It's irresponsible for Safeway to knowingly sell a product that can harm women and children," said Andy Peri, an analyst for Sea Turtle Restoration Project, which organized the protest. "Right here in Sacramento, in the backyard of the Attorney General and Legislature, Safeway is disregarding California's Prop. 65, and not adequately warning its customers about the dangers of eating fish it sells."

In late 2002, the Sea Turtle Restoration Project (STRP) tested swordfish from Safeway Stores and several other supermarkets and found high levels of mercury in the fish. Under Prop 65, STRP filed a 60 day notice of intent to sue supermarkets, and the California Attorney General took over the case that will require stores to post warning signs. The testing indicated that swordfish from Safeway had mercury levels amongst the highest with levels of 1.73 parts per million (ppm), a level that would put a 120 pound nursing mom at over 1030% of the level that the US Environmental Protection Agency considers safe.

Safeway/Vons is one of the few supermarket chains in California that continue to inadequately post signs warning customers of mercury in seafood in direct violation of Proposition 65, California's consumer right-to-know law. "Stores in Sacramento are particularly egregious in this regard," added Peri.

Survey conducted in Safeway stores in the Sacramento and Sierra foothill region indicate that Safeway has failed to post signs (or post them adequately in more than 70% of its stores.

Methylmercury-the organic form of mercury found in many species of fish-is a potent neurotoxin that can cause nervous system and brain damage in developing fetuses, infants, and young children. According to the Centers for Disease Control, one in 12 women of childbearing age in the U.S. has unsafe mercury levels, translating to over 300,000 babies born at risk for mercury exposure in the U.S. each year.

Mercury contamination of seafood is a persistent public health concern. The Food and Drug Administration warns pregnant women to, "protect your unborn child by not eating these large fish that can contain high levels of methylmercury: shark, swordfish, king mackerel and tilefish" http://www.fda.gov/oc/opacom/mehgadvisory1208.html.

Furthermore, the Attorney's General's Proposition 65 mercury warning sign states that, "pregnant and nursing women, women who may become pregnant and young children should not eat the following fish: swordfish, shark, king mackerel, tilefish. They should also limit their consumption of other fish, including fresh or frozen tuna" (bold text is in the original sign from the Attorney's General office). The Attorney General's website is at: http://caag.state.ca.us.

"Adequate signage is the first step," said Peri. "But in the long run, Safeway needs to pull items such as swordfish from its shelf in order to protect its customers and their children.

The Sea Turtle Restoration Project has also developed an online seafood mercury calculator (http://www.gotmercury.org) so seafood consumers can personally determine how much mercury they are being exposed to through their diet.

The Sea Turtle Restoration Project is a California-based marine conservation organization that works to protect sea turtles and other marine species in the United States and in countries around the world. For more information about sea turtles and the Sea Turtle Restoration Project, please visit: www.seaturtles.org

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