What's the Best Canned Tuna?

The Short Answer

The best canned tuna is Safe Catch Elite if your priority is safety (lowest mercury), or Wild Planet Skipjack if your priority is flavor and sustainability.

Most other brands—including the "premium" ones at Costco—fail on either purity or planet. Major brands like Starkist and Bumble Bee often use "vegetable broth" (a slurry of water and soy) to replace natural oils lost during processing. For the lowest mercury risk, always choose Skipjack or "Light" tuna over Albacore, which contains nearly triple the mercury on average.

Why This Matters

Tuna is the most complicated pantry staple you own. It sits at the intersection of heavy metal toxicity and ocean ecosystem collapse. Because tuna are apex predators, they bioaccumulate mercury—a neurotoxin that can damage developing brains.

Standard testing is random. Most brands test a few fish per batch (or none at all) and assume the rest are fine. But mercury levels can spike unpredictably from one fish to the next. A 2023 Consumer Reports investigation found that even "low mercury" cans occasionally contained dangerous spikes.

Then there's the processing. Conventional tuna is precooked on racks, losing its natural oils. Manufacturers then pack the dry fish into cans and add water, oil, or "vegetable broth" to restore moisture. Clean brands cook the fish once, inside the can, retaining 100% of the natural Omega-3s and flavor without additives.

What's Actually In Canned Tuna

Most cheap tuna isn't just fish and water. Here is what the label "Vegetable Broth" usually hides:

• Hydrolyzed Soy Protein — Used to boost protein count and add savory flavor (umami). A common hidden allergen. Is Soy Bad For You
• Pyrophosphates — Additives used to bind moisture so the fish weighs more (you pay for water).
• Flavor Enhancers — Often yeast extract or other forms of hidden MSG to make bland, precooked fish taste fresh.

What to Look For

Green Flags:

• "Cooked in the can" — Means no natural oils were lost; higher Omega-3s.
• "Pole and Line" or "Troll Caught" — Eliminates bycatch of sharks and turtles.
• "Skipjack" — Smaller species, naturally lower in mercury than Albacore.
• "Mercury Tested" — Ideally every fish (Safe Catch), but batch testing (Wild Planet) is acceptable.

Red Flags:

• "Vegetable Broth" — The #1 sign of processed, precooked tuna.
• "Solid White Albacore" — The highest mercury option. Limit consumption.
• "FAD-Free" labels missing — FADs (Fish Aggregating Devices) attract all marine life, leading to massive bycatch.
• "Chunk Light" (without species named) — Could be a mix of species, often "scraps" processed together.

The Best Options

If you eat tuna weekly, these are the only cans that should be in your pantry.

The Bottom Line

1. Buy Skipjack, not Albacore. You immediately reduce your mercury exposure by ~70% just by switching species.

2. Read the ingredients. It should say "Tuna" and "Salt." If you see "Vegetable Broth" or "Pyrophosphates," put it back.

3. Trust Safe Catch for pregnancy. Since they test every individual fish, they are the only brand that eliminates the "mercury spike" risk for vulnerable populations.

FAQ

Is Costco (Kirkland) tuna good quality?

It's decent for protein, but fails on sustainability. Kirkland Albacore is caught using longlines, which result in high bycatch of sharks and turtles. It also consistently tests higher in mercury because it is Albacore. Is Costco Beef Good

Why is Wild Planet tuna so dry?

It's not dry—it's dense. Conventional tuna is pumped full of water and vegetable broth. Wild Planet is cooked in its own juices. Don't drain it! Mash the juices back into the fish to reclaim the Omega-3s.

Can I eat canned tuna while pregnant?

Proceed with extreme caution. The FDA says 2-3 servings of "light" tuna is okay, but independent labs advise avoiding it entirely due to testing spikes. If you must, choose Safe Catch Elite, which screens every fish to a strict limit safe for pregnancy. Mercury In Fish

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