"tuna" news and stories

Tuna salad's a lunchtime favorite, but the same old tuna routine can taste, well...canned. Here, some thoughts on how to add some variety to your tuna repertoire.

Why is it that we only grab canned tuna when it's sandwich time?

Are you a sushi fact whiz? Test your food trivia smarts with this fun sushi trivia and facts quiz.

The Skinny Chef's Spicy Tuna Cups. Photo: Jennifer Iserloh

Making proper sushi rice and learning to roll your own takes a lot of practice. But even if you feel overwhelmed wrapping sushi, these little pickled cucumber cups are just the easiest thing to make and you can fill them with all sorts of tasty bites.

These nibbles are made from sushi grade tuna that I buy at The Lobster Place in the Chelsea Market in New York City. But if you don't have a great purveyor locally and aren't a fan of raw fish, you can always use the same amount of baked salmon. It works just as well in my recipe, although the texture will be firmer

So what's the deal with mercury?

Learn more about tuna and mercury and get Jennifer's Spicy Tuna recipe after the jump.

It is no longer news that Tuna is dangerously high in mercury. But, what's worth remarking is that tuna has remained off consumer watch lists for mercury toxicity due to the influence of the tuna industry on the FDA. The eco-blog Treehugger just commented on an article from Mother Jones uncovering why toxic tuna is still legal.

The article explains that tuna is a huge business in the U.S., and that it's the country's second most popular seafood. The FDA and US Department of Agriculture actually encourage school lunch programs and the federal food program for poor women and children to eat cans of tuna. They promote the fact that it's low in fat, high in protein, and contains lots of omega-3 fatty acids. If some canned tuna receives the American Heart Association seal of approval, can the fact that it has high levels of mercury be so bad?

The issue is that the doctors who flaunt the health benefits of tuna work within the industry. And, the truth is that the health benefits can not outweigh the health hazards of mercury, which over the long-term include damage to the heart, nervous system, and kidneys. The Mother Jones article tells the story of Deborah Landvik-Fellner, a woman who had been eating a can of albacore tuna for 12 years and ended up with shaky hands and a staggering gait. The scary thing about her lawsuit is that the FDA posed the biggest obstacle. After not eating tuna for a year, her symptons went away.