Americans consume 1 billion pounds of canned, jarred or pouched tuna every year. That’s a lot of tuna! And a LOT of sodium!! Tuna melt has been a high protein quick lunch in our family for years now. However, the sodium levels in the tuna and the cheese not to mention the bread have made this a challenge. We have been trying to come up with ways to reduce the sodium levels with some selective shopping. Turns out there are many many options for canned tuna! So how to decide?

Tuna in water or in oil

First of all, let’s talk about tuna packed in oil versus tuna packed in water. Which one should you buy? So tuna packed in oil is softer, tastier and is best eaten right out of the can. It is higher in omega 3 but if you drain out the oil, you risk losing some of it. It is also higher in calories and fats than tuna packed in water. On the other hand, if you are looking to add flavor to the tuna by using it in a recipe like tuna salad, you are better off going with tuna packed in water. Either way, it does not seem to impact the sodium content a whole lot. For this article, I have focused on the tuna packed in water since that is the most popular.

At the Grocery Store

I have been buying the Kirkland Signature brand of tuna at Costco for years! On closer inspection this has pretty high sodium content at 340mg of sodium per can. So I started researching. Turns out whether you are at a specialty store like Whole Foods or Trader Joes or your corner grocery store, there are certain things to look for.

• Read the nutrition label to check for sodium content – easy enough!
• Look for a No Salt Added on the can – you want 100% tuna and nothing else.
• Low sodium/Reduced sodium is not enough – If you look at the 2 examples of StarKist tuna in the image above, you will see that the one with 25% Less Sodium still sets you back 240mg of sodium per can!
• Pole and line caught fish are better from a sustainability point of view (no by-catch) and also tastier.

The Winners

Here are the winners from my local stores:

• Sea Tales Solid Light Skip Jack Wild Tuna – 45mg of sodium per 3oz available at Stop and Shop. Interestingly, the website offers many more choices for low sodium tuna than on the shelves at my local store so browse around.
• Trader Joes Solid White Albacore Tuna – 42 mg of sodium per 3 oz
• Wild Planet No Salt Added Skipjack Wild Tuna – 30mg of sodium per 3oz available at Whole Foods

Clearly, the can of tuna you reach for does make a huge difference! Let me know if you have a favorite brand that tastes good and delivers on the low sodium!