This is problematic, especially for pregnant women and young children who are encouraged to eat seafood rich in omega-3s. Some tuna species are riskier for consumers than others. As a general rule, the bigger and longer-lived a predatory fish is, the more mercury it tends to have accumulated in its flesh.
Mercury is particularly dangerous to fetuses, babies and young children. For this reason, the FDA recommends that adults and children eat no more than one serving of yellowfin or albacore a week, and no more than three servings of "light" or "chunk light" tuna a week. The good news is that mercury levels in some tuna populations are on the decline. Researchers suggest that this decline is linked with America's shift away from coal-fired plants — another good reason to support the development of solar and wind energy.
In addition to mercury contamination in tuna, conscious consumers may also want to consider how the species was caught as well as trends in its population. White tuna, for example, may not be the best choice on the sustainability front. Globally, albacore is considered a near-threatened species.
It's one of the three most popular types of seafood in the United States and has been for a decade now because really, who's to argue with a well-made tuna sandwich?
But all that demand takes its toll, resulting in overfished populations, a tremendous amount of bycatch—that is, other marine life caught with the tuna—and labor violations against those working in the industry. Combined with the controversial issue of mercury levels in tuna, it's no wonder I blanked out. The good news, he says: "We're really happy to see that at this point you can walk into most big supermarkets and find at least one pretty decent canned tuna option, and that wasn't the case even two years ago.
Most supermarket canned tuna is caught using the purse seine method —basically giant nets cast over schools of fish. The "worst-case scenario" is when the nets are used with floating fish aggregating devices, or FADs, which attract all sorts of sea life, not just tuna, says Carrie Brownstein, global seafood quality standards coordinator for Whole Foods Market.
According to Hocevar, tuna fishing kills millions of sharks and hundreds of thousands of sea turtles every year. Skipjack aka light , albacore aka white , and yellowfin are the most common types of canned tuna. In terms of nutrition, this brand also boasts a "higher omega 3 than any other brand". The official tuna of the American Pregnancy Association, this product focuses on producing canned tuna with low mercury levels.
Because they test each individual fish for mercury, their mercury limit is ten times lower than the FDA action limit. Safe Catch's tuna is sustainably caught without use of destructive fishing methods and they follow the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program recommendations.
The only ingredients? Skipjack tuna and salt. Awarded a 'green' label rating by Greenpeace, this global tuna company focuses on responsible fishing and transparency, and is a proud supporter of the Earth Island Institute.
Ocean Naturals clearly lists the exact species of fish used in each product and only uses four ingredients across their line: the fish, salt, water, or olive oil. Their skipjack tuna contains mg of omega 3 fatty acids per serving. All of their light meat tuna is percent skipjack instead of a combination of multiple species since some are more endangered than others.
Whole Foods' store brand has strong traceability to ensure responsible sourcing. It's worth noting that Whole Foods was the first US retailer to commit to selling only percent sustainably canned tuna. Their Albacore tuna in water is a great low-sodium pick.
A higher end gourmet product from a Costa Rican brand, Tonnino tuna is definitely an experience in comparison to standard tuna cans. The brand only sources from vessels registered with CIATT, a group that ensures conservation of resources and on-board observers who guarantee no species other than tuna get caught in the mix.
They use responsible fishing methods and give back to their local community. While this brand has slightly higher sodium levels than others, it shouldn't be a deal breaker.
Bumble Bee calls their products 'preferred by customers when compared to Starkist' and a variety of other brands.
But can we talk about tuna in soybean oil? While the ingredients are simple, there's no need for adding soybean oil to tuna alongside vegetable broth and sea salt. Soybean oil is an unsaturated fat, but it doesn't offer benefits like olive oil does. And when it comes to responsible fishing, watch out for this brand. While their marketing information states they are responsibly harvested from fisheries, Greenpeace advises avoiding this brand's greenwashing.
In fact, the brightly colored oval can even work as an attractive, table-worthy serving vessel. This is technically a tie with Arroyabe Tuna in Olive Oil. In the jar, they are nearly identical, though similar tin weights get you a bit more tuna from Ortiz.
But the key is that both have big, full, tightly packed loins in good olive oil that flake gently off and have a clean, light flavor. This Seattle ship follows the albacore as they run from the Pacific Northwest down to the South Pacific, returning with troll-caught tuna loins canned in its own juice that come out of the can completely intact.
Even without the addition of oil, the big, almost meaty flavor of the albacore comes through cleanly. The oil-free version clearly had a single loin piece with a solid texture and big tuna flavor. The tuna was fairly dry, but given that this is best used in a tuna salad or similar, that just comes with the oil-free territory. The oil-packed version also had a big loin slice with smooth texture and no off flavors.
Unless you have a specific dietary restriction and need to avoid salt, avoid the salt-free tuna cans, as they were overall blander, and somehow both dryer and mushier than their salted equivalents. However, if you do need to try them, this one stood out from the bunch. Though it was flake, rather than loin, it managed to avoid getting mushy, and it was the only brand where the fish carried a strong and natural tuna flavor, even without the salt.
The smoke pervaded the tender meat, and the lemon stayed subtle, just brightening the already excellent tuna without overwhelming. For our tasting, we stuck to brands that claimed to use the above mentioned sustainable methods.
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