Wild Planet Promotes Pacific Albacore With Low-Mercury Messageff

Source: Business Wire

With the January 2011 Consumer Reports’ study raising mercury concerns about albacore/white tuna, consumers may be on the lookout out for low-mercury tuna options in the new year.

“In a category long dominated by three behemoth brands, we are hoping to educate consumers that there are healthier, low-mercury options such as Wild Planet Albacore available to them. Consumers can look for labels that say ‘Pacific Albacore,’ ‘U.S.-caught’ or ‘troll-caught’ to know they are purchasing low-mercury albacore.”

Unlike mainstream brands, each can of sustainably-fished Wild Planet Albacore Tuna contains less than half the mercury level compared to conventional brands because only smaller, pole and troll-caught albacore are used.

The Consumer Reports’ study tested cans and pouches of tuna primarily from large supermarket brands that use predominantly long-line caught 'albacore/white tuna.' The study does not differentiate between catch methods or the size of the albacore being tested, though both of these factors affect mercury levels.

West Coast troll-caught albacore is significantly lower in mercury content than larger, long-line caught albacore, according to a study completed by Oregon State University Seafood Research Laboratory in 2005. The study shows that U.S. troll-caught albacore mercury levels are nearly as low as those of light tuna, which both the FDA and Consumer Reports list as very low in mercury.

This lower mercury content is due to the fact that smaller fish have less time to bioaccumulate mercury. The albacore that swim in the colder Pacific Northwest waters are younger fish averaging three to four years old.

Shared Wild Planet CEO Terry Hunt: “In a category long dominated by three behemoth brands, we are hoping to educate consumers that there are healthier, low-mercury options such as Wild Planet Albacore available to them. Consumers can look for labels that say ‘Pacific Albacore,’ ‘U.S.-caught’ or ‘troll-caught’ to know they are purchasing low-mercury albacore.”

U.S. troll-caught albacore, which is used for canning by Wild Planet, is listed on the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch’s Super Green List, which names seafood that is both “good for you and good for the environment.”

Also unlike mainstream brands, sustainably-fished Wild Planet Albacore Tuna contains whole tuna steaks, hand-packed and cooked only once in the can to retain six times the valuable Omega 3 as conventional brand albacore tuna. Packed with no additional water, oil, preservatives or chemicals, there is 45% more tuna by weight in each BPA-free 5oz can as well.