The Taste Bud: Wild Planet Cleans Up Traditional Canned Tuna

This ain’t exactly Starkist. Photos by Kevin Gibson

When you grow up lower middle class, you find yourself eating all sorts of cost-saving lunches: fried bologna sandwiches, Vienna Sausages, Spam, potted meat food product. The list is long. And you just eat what’s available to you, whatever your parents bring home from the store. For me, a frequent choice was canned tuna.

Heck, my grandmother always stacks of cans in her cupboard, in part because when I stayed there on summer days, she knew I’d be asking for it. I didn’t even make it into tuna salad; I just ate it with Saltines and a little salt because, you know, tuna doesn’t have enough sodium in it. (One time, she had run out, so she opened a can of salmon for my lunch. I don’t recommend it.)

And because eating canned tuna — straight from the can sometimes — is a fond childhood memory, I occasionally return to it, but with Nacho Cheese Doritos (preferably the spicy version) replacing the Saltines. Also, I use a bowl now. But I digress.

Recently, a company called Wild Planet Foods reached out to me to see if I would be interested in trying their version of canned albacore, a version which is caught not in giant nets — which endangers other species of ocean life — but with poles and lines, the way my grandfather and I used to catch crappie and bluegill.

Two decades ago, Wild Planet founder Bill Carvalho was at Monterey Bay Aquarium and happened upon an exhibit that told the story of how our oceans are being harmed, and he decided to steer his existing seafood in a direction of sustainability. The fish is also hand-processed. And the result is a product that is far more healthful than normal store-bought canned seafood. For instance, in a can of Wild Planet tuna contains 32 grams of protein, versus 26 in the average normal can. Wild Planet also contains more inflammation-reducing EPA and DHA Omega‑3s and less mercury than its grocery-store counterparts. The products are also Non-GMO, Gluten-free and Kosher.

But is it any good? The short answer is “yes.” But here’s my take after tasting two different products that Wild Planet Foods sent to me.

Wild Planet Albacore is immediately whiter and more dense in texture than the usual stuff. The aroma upon opening the can is pretty much the same, with maybe just a tiny bit less of that “fishy” nature to it.

Flavor-wise, it’s very similar to normal canned albacore. But I do have to admit – it has a “cleaner” sort of flavor to it. Still salty, still that flavor I grew up on, but somehow it just hits me a bit differently. Maybe it’s just because I did some reading on the product before actually eating it, I don’t know. But I have had experiences of eating canned tuna and immediately wishing I hadn’t because, well, it became quickly clear my body didn’t really want it. I didn’t get that with this product.

Yes, the cans are labeled upside down. It’s weird.

Also, when you eat regular canned tuna, there’s always going to be something you find that makes you say, “What’s this?” A brown piece or what appears to be a bone, whatever it may be, and finding that can be a bit of a turn-off. Wild Planet albacore is super clean. Chicken of the Sea used that comparison to white meat chicken – this stuff is the closest I’ve ever had to that being somewhat accurate. And the texture is much like that of whole packed tuna, wherein you can plainly make out the layers of the meat.

Wild Planet also sent me a Skipjack version that offers a different texture; it is less defined and more clumpy. Its flavor also has a mineral-ly quality that differentiates it from the albacore, and I also detect what almost comes across as a light sourness (although not in an off-putting way). The flavor profile is different than the albacore, but it’s also very familiar for anyone who grew up eating canned tuna.

And the company offers a lot more than just these two products. There are flavored single pouch products such as jalapeno & cumin, you can get the fish packed in jars with olive oil, there are ready-to-serve meal pouches such as Wild Tuna Pasta Salad, they offer various versions of sardines and sardine filets, plus canned salmon, yellowfin, mackerel and anchovies — and even organically farmed chicken breast and beef products.

Check out Wild Planet Foods’ Instagram, as well. There is a world of recipes some of the more than 28,000 followers have shared. Albacore stuffed avocados, anyone?

Anyway, I found Wild Planet products at my local Kroger in Clifton; it’s a bit more expensive, but the service to the environment is worth it if your budget allows. Just look for it near the other canned fish and meat products. And hey, tell your grandma, and maybe she’ll keep some on hand for you.