Tin of tuna every day?

O.P.H

I am in college and everymorning make myself a sandwich with just 2 slices of brown bread and a tin of John West tuna(in brine) mixed with a little mayo. Is this good or bad, not sure if theres too much salt or whatever.

Faith

I've read you shouldn't have more that 4 (I think) cans a week due to the relatively high mercury content in tuna.

zAbbo

Depends on the size of the tin innit ?

Faith

John West Tuna comes in a pretty standard size. I'm fairly sure that's the size the report I read was based on.

Faith

I just did some googling, and it seems the safe amount is 12 oz (340 g) a week.

fatal

I have 2/3 a day and im doin quite fine

nerdysal

You should get the John West tuna in Sunflower oil... lower the salt intake a bit... But otherwise, tuna's a great source of protein!!!

Naos

I would have about 8 cans of this a week, probably more...

Hopefully this will be like the great egg yoyo: "They're good, they're bad, they're good..."

O.P.H

Ya gonna start havin the tuna in sunflower oil to lower salt intake. I have the small tin, they're just so handy.

Faith

Mercury poisoning is extremely serious. A can of John West tuna drained is 130g, and a serving is half a can. If you're exceding Government guidelines by a lot, you're at risk for mercury poisoning.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002476.htm wrote:

ORGANIC MERCURY

Organic mercury can cause sickness if breathed in, eaten, or placed on the skin for long periods of time. Usually organic mercury causes problems over years or decades, not immediately. In other words, being exposed to small amounts of organic mercury every day for years will likely cause symptoms to appear later. Regardless, a single large exposure can also cause problems.

Long-term exposure will likely cause neurological symptoms, including:

* Numbness or pain in certain parts of your skin
* Uncontrollable shake or tremor
* Inability to walk well
* Blindness and double vision
* Memory problems
* Seizures and death (with large exposures)

Tuna is great, but there's no doubt that mercury is bad. There's many other great sources of protein out there. IMO for your own sake, you should cut down if you're eating more than 3 or 4 cans a week.

rubadub

* Numbness or pain in certain parts of your skin
* Uncontrollable shake or tremor
* Inability to walk well
* Blindness and double vision
* Memory problems
* Seizures and death

I get the same symptoms from my weekly cans of beer

On the page you linked it mentioned fish, on that page

It also said

Strict avoidance of any foods contaminated with methylmercury will prevent poisoning. Because of manufacturing, mercury has become so common in the environment that trace amounts of methylmercury are present in many foods derived from the ocean, including deep-sea tuna. Fortunately, the levels are low enough that most of these foods remain safe. Contact Poison Control if you believe you may have been exposed.

if you are worried then I would avoid it, the stress/worry might cause more harm. Excuse the pun but there are plenty other fish in the sea! I only really eat white fish. It is rare to find any food that doesn't have some "scare" attached to it. What would you replace it with?

Faith

Yup, the levels in each tin are low, but cumulative. They build up in the body if too much is consumed.

bushy...

Bit worse than a hangover

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~toxmetal/HMKW.shtml

http://www1.umn.edu/ships/ethics/minamata.htm

O.P.H

I think I've come to realise that too much of anything no matter how amazing the food is just bad, the world just seems to work that way. So I'll cut down on the tinned Tuna but is there another tinned fish out there you'd recommend. I say 'tinned' just cause its so handy.

PS - tinned salmon is horrific so not that.

Naos

If there are any Polish or Russian shops around you, check them out.

Some of the tinned fish I've bought there has been fantastic, and cheap

nerdysal

You can get kippers in a tin. They're lovely.

I'm probably going to be like you come September. I will be starting college and living away from home!!!

cozmik

O.P.H wrote: »

PS - tinned salmon is horrific so not that.

blasphemy!!

Tinned salmon is delicious... and a great source of calcium in those little bones yum!

celt2005

http://www.pbs.org/now/science/mercuryinfish.html

uptherebels

or you could go for the ever tasty sardines.I similar to the op go threw a few tins of them a week

NextSteps

uptherebels wrote: »

or you could go for the ever tasty sardines.I similar to the op go threw a few tins of them a week

Yeah, but, like the egg sandwiches, it's a bit whiffy. Have you tried smoked mackerel, the kind you find in the fridge section of supermarkets? Delicious stuff, especially with some soft cheese or goat's cheese. Or how about smoked salmon?

LivingDeadGirl

Does other tinned fish contain mercury?

cozmik

Nearly all fish contain traces of mercury. Tuna just has higher levels than most other fish we consume on a regular basis.

The objective of study was to determine levels of mercury and fatty acids in commercial fish. Canned tuna (n=240), canned salmon (n=16), and canned mackerel (n=16) were purchased from local stores and homogenized prior to analysis.

...

Mean mercury concentration in tuna, salmon, and mackerel were 188, 45, and 55 ppb, respectively. None of the canned fish exceeded the FDA action (1000 ppb) for fresh fish and these data were comparable to those reported by the FDA (2001).

http://ift.confex.com/ift/2004/techprogram/paper_25801.htm