BellaOnline Forums Food and Wine Low Carb Chunk Light vs Albacore Tunafish

We've all read how important it is to get our weekly allotment of fish into our diets. Fish oils are critical for proper brain functioning. But what is the difference between chunk light tunafish and albacore tunafish?

Chunk Light vs Albacore Tunafish

Which do you prefer?

Great article, Lisa. I buy tuna packed in water, and generally only get the albacore because chunk light to me is too fishy. If I am making macaroni salad with tuna I may use some chunk light, or if I am cooking with tuna I will use chunk light sometimes because chunk light is cheaper. It depends on the dish and how much fish flavor I want. But for sandwiches and just enjoying it as tuna salad I prefer the albacore. The local grocery store here, Stop & Shop, has their own brand of tuna and I find it to be less fishy and salty than the other brands.

Debbie -

If you use a chunk light brand with skipjack in it, it would taste fisher. But another brand could easily taste less fishy. It's all about the brand and the ratio of types of tuna.

I had been buying albacore in general and then happened on another brand which was less fishy - so now albacore tastes fishy to me. Unfortunately, now I can't figure out what that other brand was. I have become sensitive to that fishy taste. I used to eat a lot of tuna and now I eat very little, because of the fishiness.

I need to run some taste tests .

Lisa,

This is a great article. I learned something valuable here. I always buy solid white albacore for us to eat, but I buy the cheap stuff for my cats; they like the fishiness. Whenever I drain my tuna, I give it to my cats and it's their favorite snack; it never goes to waste.

Karen -

I definitely give my cat the draining from my tunafish - she likes it no matter what kind of tuna I eat. I haven't thought of buying her actual tuna to eat. I am curious how much that costs vs buying them fish cat food?

I don't buy canned cat food for my cats, just tuna for treats. I buy it when it's on sale at about 65 to 80 cents a can.

Lisa,

I buy chunk light in water, and pour off the juices for my cats as an occasional treat. You should see them run when they hear the can opener!

The albacore tuna seems too dry for me, that's why I like the light tuna. I like Yellowtail sushi, so I guess I don't mind the taste all the way 'round.

Karen -

We are down to one cat now, and we give her both wet food and dry food each day. I hear that dry food only is bad for their stomachs, as it "soaks" the water out of their internals. In nature they eat wet things like mice. But I also hear that wet food only is bad for their gums, as there is nothing to "crunch". In nature they crunch on the bones. So we figure a mix of wet and dry is better than a diet of mice .

I'm not even sure what we pay for wet food. I think it's 50 cents a can - but I also think the cans are smaller than a tuna can. This seems to be something for me to investigate. Could cat food be more expensive than human being tuna?

Michelle -

Yes definitely we always give the tuna can juice to the cat or cats. They do love it .

In terms of dry vs wet, I'm not sure I realized there was a difference. They both come in either oil or water, so that probably does make a difference. But, at least with the brands we get, both are just as "wet". I imagine different brands use different amounts of water / oil as "filler" - because that probably reduces their costs. I.e. I would think a better brand would be mostly fish, but a cheaper brand would be mostly water because that saves them money and the consumer still pays by the can.

I think the light tuna is mostly skipjack, from what I'm reading, but again that seems to be a brand-by-brand thing. I do love yellowtail so I wish they had type-percentages on the cans so I could see what is what. I wonder if they'll move in that direction as people become more aware of the differences.

Lisa.....I think you may have Stop & Shop supermarkets where you are. If you do then you might want to try a can of the store brand solid white albacore in water. I cut off the top of the can (washed first) and then I use that can top to put back on top of the tuna still in the can to help me press and squeeze out as much of the water as possible. I find this tuna less fishy than most. Maybe you will like it.