If Only Mercury Were Like Giving A Pregnant Woman Caffeine . . .

Consumers seem to be wildly unimpressed by sushi-mercury scares:

Sara Barokas, a substitute teacher, noticed the yellow-and-red signs above the sushi case at the Gourmet Garage market on Broadway: “Protect yourself and your family!!! Mercury in sushi.”

By the time the sliding doors parted and she walked in at noontime on Wednesday, she had also heard about laboratory tests that found high levels of mercury in tuna bought at 20 Manhattan stores and restaurants, including the Gourmet Garage. Its tuna had the second-highest mercury level in the study, 1.25 parts per million.

She bought 12 pieces of tuna sushi anyway.

“It’s something I enjoy,” she said. “I don’t eat sushi every day, so in moderation is it really a problem? It sounds like one of those everyday things they tell us could be harmful. Last week, what was it, caffeine for pregnant women is harmful? That’s common sense.”