Go beyond the label to find healthy, dolphin-friendly tuna. BY PAUL MCRANDLE
CANNED TUNA has been a lunchtime staple for generations, and its ubiquity has led to widespread consumer attention to fish and oceans. In the 1970s, consumers became concerned about the unintended “bycatch” of dolphins in tuna nets. In the last decade, there’s been an additional concern: the high mercury content in some tuna, especially steaks from large bluefin tuna and canned chunk white. No one wants to pack a heavy metal in their child’s lunch box.
Yet tuna can be high in omega- 3 fatty acids, providing a low-fat, heart-healthy source of protein. So when you’re shopping for canned tuna, whether for yourself or a child, what’s the best choice? Learn how to decode the user-unfriendly labels so you can pick it out on store shelves.
“CHUNK WHITE” AND “SOLID WHITE”
are applied to cans of albacore tuna (“alba” means “white”). Caught in the deep ocean, these mature tuna have elevated levels of mercury. Furthermore, the long lines hung with hundreds of hooks used to capture them also catch significant numbers of threatened or endangered sea turtles, sharks and seabirds.
The Environmental Defense Fund recommends that children 5 and under eat this type of tuna only once a month and kids 6 to 12 two times a month. Adults should eat no more than three servings a month.
“CANNED LIGHT” AND
“CHUNK LIGHT”
are labels applied to both
yellowfin and skipjack tuna.
These types of tuna are
commonly caught in large
nets that encircle schools of
fish, a method that can also
trap endangered and threat-
ened sea turtles, seabirds and
marine mammals. Mature
yellowfin (sometimes labeled
“gourmet” or “tonno”) can
have the same levels of
mercury as chunk white and
should be consumed according
to the same guidelines.
While skipjack has lower levels
of mercury, can labels often
do not distinguish between it
and yellowfin.
Best Buy “TROLL CAUGHT” AND “POLE CAUGHT”
These refer to fish caught American Tuna’s
on a single hook on a line, pole-caught wild albacore
posing no threat to other is certified by the Marine
species. Most canned troll- Stewardship Council (MSC),
or pole-caught albacore sold which monitors well-managed
in the U.S. are caught in U.S. fisheries with healthy
coastal waters, which are populations ($4.99/6-oz.
inhabited by young fish that can;
americantuna.com).
have lower levels of mercury Troll- or pole-caught tuna from
and higher amounts of other producers, including
omega-3s than other tuna Pacific Fleet, MaryLu Seafoods,
varieties. Other types of Wild Planet and Wild Pacific
canned tuna, like yellowfin Seafood, aren’t MSC-certified
and skipjack, aren’t commer- but are still good choices.
cially fished this way.
Children under 6 should eat no more than three servings a month, but older kids and adults can eat it four or more times a month.
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