CANNED TUNA FISH — CLOSEST TO HOMEMADE®

Information updated April 2024

We usually start with a homemade recipe for whatever we’re reviewing and use that as a means to compare manufactured items. However, there is no homemade recipe for Canned Tuna Fish. So . . . we are going to look at which products contain Not In Kitchen ingredients >> these are commercial ingredients we would never use in our home kitchens such as Chemical Preservatives and Soybean Oil. In addition, given that there are several Closest To Homemade Canned Tunas — which are simply Tuna + possibly Salt and Water or Oil plus possibly herbs + spices — Canned Tunas do not need any other ingredients in the can aside from those noted.

There are three main Tuna Fish used in U.S. Canned Tuna >> Albacore Tuna (also known as White Tuna due to its white color), Yellowfin Tuna (also known as Ahi Tuna; ‘Ahi’ is the Hawaiian word for two types of Tuna — Yellowfin and Bigeye) and Skipjack Tuna. Canned Tuna is either one single type of Tuna fish or a combination of Tuna fish as we see in Chunk Light Tuna which is generally chunks (vs. solid fillets) of Skipjack Tuna but may also include some Yellowfin Tuna. (Source: Hawaii Seafood .Org)

SOY IN CANNED TUNA FISH: One of our many astute readers noted that Soy has recently appeared as an ingredient in several varieties of Canned Tunas. Here’s a look at what he found >> Soy appears in Canned Tunas in two ways: one is obvious but the other is not-so-obvious. The obvious one: Soy appears in some Canned Tunas in Oil in the form of Soybean Oil. The not-so-obvious one: ‘Soy’ inexplicably appears in many products in the “Contain” statement under an ingredient list which does not note ‘Soy’ as an ingredient >> so where does the Soy come from? It seems to be contained within “Vegetable Broth” which is now in many Canned Tunas in Water . . . Why? And why are the ingredients not shown for the Vegetable Broth?

The following two Tunas from Bumble Bee are both Solid White Albacore Tuna in Water so they should have the same ingredients . . . but the Bumble Bee Prime one — below left — has only three ingredients while the basic Bumblee Bee — below right — has four including Soy-containing Vegetable Broth. If we can’t afford the Prime version of this Bumble Bee Tuna and we choose the basic Bumble Bee Tuna, we are also buying and eating Soy.

Here are some of the Canned Tunas which contain Soybean Oil and/or Soy:

Seen below, some Canned Tunas contain a form of Pyrophosphate to regulate the pH inside the can >> this is a commercial ingredient we would never use at home and there are numerous Closest To Homemade products which do not contain it which illustrates the fact it does not need to be there.

Shown below are Closest To Homemade® Canned Tunas with no Added Sweeteners, Colors, Flavors, Gums, Starch, Flours, Taste Enhancers, Soy, Soybean Oil, Chemical Preservatives or Pyrophosphates. There are various options with different Oils and Salts and some without any Oil or Salt.

WHITE ALBACORE CANNED TUNA IN OIL

*Neither money nor products are ever accepted to appear on the Closest To Homemade list*

YELLOWFIN CANNED TUNA IN OIL

CANNED TUNA WITH NO ADDED OILS

CANNED TUNA — NO SALT OR OILS ADDED

Here are some Tonnino Tuna Fillets in glass jars which are Pole & Line Wild Caught:

We leave you with a Garlic Herb Tuna Comparison with Safe Catch — below far right — as the Closest To Homemade® option:

Here’s a handy summary chart of Closest To Homemade® Tunas:

Discover more food + beverages whose ingredients are Closest To Homemade in 275+ categories. Neither money nor products are ever accepted to appear on the Closest To Homemade list.

Closest To Homemade® Master List

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