Dear Richard
Tuna destined for canning is often stowed in chilled seawater or frozen in
brine on the fishing vessel and the flesh will thereby contain some absorbed
salt, the amount depending on the particular handling conditions. The
presence of salt does not matter for a canned products so long as it is not
excessive. The United States Tuna Foundation has - or had, my information
might be out of date - a specification for quality of tuna used for canning
which specified the salt content. For quality class 1 the salt content must
be less than 1.89%, for class 2 between 1.9 and 2.67, and above 2.7% was
class 3, unacceptable. I have a feeling that salt is added to tuna at the
can filling step if it does not already contain salt, but perhaps someone
with more experience of tuna canning can confirm, or not, this.
Peter Howgate
----- Original Message -----
From: "Richard Chivers" <richard@fishonline.co.uk>
To: "seafood" <seafood@ucdavis.edu>
Sent: Monday, August 14, 2006 3:06 PM
Subject: Sodium content of tuna
>I have just received a query regarding the sodium content of tuna.
>
> According to McCance and Widdowson tuna has the following sodium content:
>
> Raw tuna 40-50 milligrams/100g
>
> Cooked tuna in oil 290 milligrams/100g
>
> Cooked tuna in brine 320 milligrams/100g
>
> My contact wants to know why the sodium content increases so much through
> cooking.
>
> Thanks in anticipation
>
> Richard Chivers
> Seafood Audit International
>
>
>
>
>
>
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