Mercury contamination: temporary ban on tuna in school canteens in eight French towns

The towns of Bègles, Grenoble, Lille, Lyon, Montpellier, Mouans-Sartoux, Paris and Rennes announced that they were temporarily banning tuna from the school menus, from 28/08/2025 on. "Together, we are acting as guarantors of the health of the most vulnerable by refusing to expose children to mercury through school catering", the eight town councils declared.

This decision comes after the publication, in October 2024, of an investigation by the Bloom association revealing the contamination of tuna with mercury.

The eight towns are calling on the Ministry of Labour, Health, Solidarity and Families and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food Sovereignty to lobby the European Commission in Brussels to lower the maximum mercury limit in tuna to 0.3 mg/kg - a limit already applied to certain seafood products.

They are also calling on the French government and Members of Parliament to influence changes in European standards by banning the marketing of tuna-based products containing more than 0.3 mg/kg of mercury at national level.

The signatories of the temporary ban

• Bègles: Clément…