Chunk or solid? Light or albacore? Packed in water or oil? Dolphin-safe or line-caught? Picking up a quick, healthy lunch ingredient at the grocery store isn’t as simple as it used to be. Today’s tuna cans are labeled with an array of information about everything from how the fish tastes to how it was caught.
Depending on your motivation in picking up a can of tuna, you might swim in one direction or another. Here are your top picks if you…
…like your fish a certain level of “fishy”
The words on the can that you may be most familiar with offer a clue as to what the flavor will be. “White tuna,” also known as albacore because it comes from the albacore species of tuna, has a mild, more neutral flavor. (The word “white” is a bit misleading, however; while it’s the lightest in color of all tuna species, it’s still more pink or beige than white after it’s cooked and canned.) “Light tuna” could come from skipjack, yellowfin, tongol, or bigeye—or a combination of them. It typically has a stronger, fishier flavor than albacore. When it comes to the packing liquid, tuna in water will also have a lighter flavor than tuna in oil (usually soybean oil but sometimes olive or other vegetable oil).
…want the most omega-3 fatty acids
Canned tuna is a moderately good source of EPA (eicosapentaenoic acid) and DHA (docosahexaenoic acid), the two main heart-healthy fatty acids in fish. Tuna provides lower levels of these omega-3s than fattier fish like salmon, but more than most other fish. White tuna is richer in omega-3s than light tuna, but the packing liquid appears to matter, too. According to a study in Public Health Nutrition in 2011—still the most recent one on the topic—white tuna packed in water has three times as much EPA and DHA as tuna packed in oil. Why is that? Because fat dissolves in fat, when you drain the oil in oil-packed tuna, some of the omega-3s in the tuna leach away with it. In contrast, because water and oil don’t mix, draining the liquid in water-packed tuna does not reduce the omega-3s.
…are counting calories
No surprise here—tuna packed in water has fewer calories than tuna packed in oil, even if you drain the oil. But most of the calorie hit from a tuna salad will come from the mayonnaise or other dressing that you add, so use a light hand when you’re mixing in those ingredients.
…need to cut back on sodium
Tuna, like most packaged foods, has salt added during the canning process. A 3-ounce serving contains about 300 to 500 milligrams, which doesn’t sound high—until you consider that nutrition guidelines, including those from the American Heart Association, generally recommend a limit of no more than 2,300 milligrams of sodium a day for most adults—and ideally, no more than 1,500 milligrams. You can lower the sodium by draining and rinsing the tuna, or, better yet, by choosing one of the many low-sodium or no-salt-added versions on the market.
…are branching out beyond tuna salad
If you’re mixing your tuna with mayo or other ingredients into a salad, chunk is fine—it’s already the right size, and there’s no need to spend more for solid pieces that you will break apart anyway as you prepare it. But if you want to serve your tuna in bigger bites over pasta, for example, or as the star of another recipe, the better choice would be solid tuna—or even canned, pouched, or jarred tuna fillets.
…want to save money
Chunk light tends to be the best bang for your buck, followed by solid light; chunk white and solid white are more expensive. Part of this cost difference is consumer demand, but part is also due to the fact that white comes from only one kind of fish (albacore), while light can be a combination of fish types. Of course, prices vary depending on the brand, retail outlet, and area where you live.
…don’t have a can opener
If you’re on the go, lightweight pouches are a great alternative to cans. They cost more ounce for ounce, but they don’t require draining or a can opener (of course, many cans today have pull-tab lids and so don’t require a can opener either). Some companies even flavor the tuna in the pouches so it’s ready to eat, but check the sodium levels—much of that seasoning may be salt. The downsides of pouch tuna? It doesn’t last as long on the shelf—only three years, compared with three to five for canned—and the packaging is not recyclable.
…support sustainability
Monterey Bay Aquarium’s Seafood Watch program has identified the types of fishing methods that best protect ocean wildlife populations from decline and extinction. Look for the terms “pole-and-line-caught,” “pole-caught,” or “troll-caught” on the can—these methods greatly reduce the risk of bycatch (accidentally catching other marine life, including juvenile tuna, sharks, sea turtles, and endangered albatrosses). “FAD-free,” “free school,” and “school-caught” indicate that a fish aggregation device (FAD) was not used. These devices attract tuna to make catching them easier, but they also increase the risk of bycatch. The Marine Stewardship Council certifies tuna that is caught sustainably, so their blue seal on the label is also a green light. Seafood Watch provides a list of tuna products that meet its “Best Choice,” “Certified,” and “Good Alternatives” criteria.
What about “dolphin-safe”? One of the first claims to be included on tuna cans, it means, for example, that fishing boats are not allowed to chase or set nets around dolphins, which swim with yellowfin tuna in the eastern Pacific. While most tuna sold in the U.S. (including imported) is certified “dolphin-safe,” the label doesn’t mean that the tuna was caught sustainably in other ways—so look instead for these other terms (noted above), says Seafood Watch. And don’t look for—or pay extra for—an organic label. The USDA hasn’t established standards for organic farmed fish; wild-caught fish, of course, don’t come from a controlled environment that could confirm they are organic.
Fish provide important nutrients, including omega-3 fatty acids (EPA and DHA), iron, iodine, and choline, along with protein, vitamin D, B12, selenium, and zinc. But nearly all fish also have traces of methylmercury, a form of mercury that has neurotoxic effects, especially in developing brains. Larger fish, like tuna, have higher levels of mercury because they are higher up in the food chain, meaning that they consume smaller fish and thereby accumulate all the mercury that those fish contain. Another advantage of pole/troll-caught tuna (besides preventing bycatch) is that these fish tend to be younger and smaller and thus have less mercury.
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) have jointly issued the following recommendations for how much tuna certain groups can safely consume:
- People who are pregnant or breastfeeding can have two to three servings (4 ounces each) of canned light tuna per week, or one serving of canned white/albacore tuna per week (albacore live longer and are larger than skipjack and other light types and thus accumulate more mercury). But it’s worth mentioning that a 2023 Consumer Reports investigation found that mercury levels in individual cans of tuna can vary widely from the average. As a result, that organization recommends that pregnant people avoid canned tuna altogether.
- Children up to age 11 can have two servings a week of canned light tuna (with serving sizes varying by age).
- For older children and other adults, the government agencies do not specify safe levels of mercury consumption from fish. However, while it’s generally safe for these groups to eat canned tuna, it’s probably a good idea for everyone to follow this advice to some degree: “Seafood choices higher in EPA and DHA and lower in methylmercury are encouraged.”
Recommendations for safe tuna consumption vary across different health groups, however. Parents might want to do their own research and discuss with their pediatricians what safe levels of intake are for their children. The Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) provides some advice here.
To find out how often you can safely eat other fish besides tuna—and which fish to avoid altogether because of their high mercury content—you can consult this chart from the FDA/EPA or this searchable database from EDF.
