Feeling Crabby.Why doesn't tinned tuna contain Omega 3?

hollydays

:eek: Just read something today, from a source I don't particularly trust,which said

Don't rely on tinned tuna for omega-3 fats as canning destroys almost all of them.

Is this true?

rose_tinted

Hi there,
I would tend to agree with this. I thought only fresh fish had omega 3 in. Not sure whether the canning would destroy the good bit. Sounds feasible though.
Rose_Tinted

davetrousers

I have heard conflicting reports on this so am interested.

But tinned mackerel is still high in Omega 3 so I wouldn't attribute any losses to tinning (as such)!

Lily-Lu

I've heard that tinned tuna is unlikely to have them, because most of the time it is extracted to put in fish-oil capsules, prior to canning. Tinned sardines were recommended, as a good sourse though:)

hollydays

Reading the article has made me crabby-I am gutted!!
But seriously it was in the Sun today page 42-see what I mean about the source!Now I am confused about all tinned fish.
It also said avoid raw ingrediants such as fish and prawns which are frozen in brine-look for salt levels on the nutrients list.They can be very high. ???
Salt in frozen fish?I have not heard of that either.

floyd

Found this on the government EatWell site "The canning process doesn't reduce the amount of omega 3 in sardines or pilchards, so both canned and fresh sardines and pilchards count as oily fish. Canned tuna doesn't count as oily fish because most of its oils are lost during the canning process."

Larumbelle

Tinned mackerel, sardines, pilchards and salmon are all good sources of omega-3. In fact tuna seems to be the only tinned fish that isn't, a bit gutted 'cos it's my favourite!

Just went running to my freezer - we have a LOT of frozen fish and seafood (OH is from Grimsby, we buy bulk from the docks) and none of ours is preserved in brine. The prawns have no nutritional information on them, but I know that north atlantic prawns are cooked in brine and are therefore quite salty. They are also quite high in cholestorel.

I'm now thinkin I need a 'nutrition' book along the lines of my price book to check the nutrition of different interchangeable sources / ingredients. I think this might be my next project...

champys

I have also been told by an edible-oils expert that you should not overdo the eating of oily fish: apparently the fish stock PCBs (toxins) from polluted water in their fat layers.
Nothing is more complicated than eating fish these days...... :-)

Skint_Catt

Isn't brine just salty water? Hence the high sodium. I've only ever seen tinned tuna in brine, but then I don't eat much other tinned fish.

beemuzed

I'd read this elsewhere too. However, tuna isn't my favourite - I find it a bit dry and bland. Glad that the other tinned ones seem ok. Mind, not sure that anything these days comes without some health warning or another...maybe time to just eat what you enjoy, in moderation, and hope for the best????

pigpen

tinned tuna can be pruchased in oil instead of brine.. this isn't as 'dry' as the brine tuna as the salt removes water from things anyway.. which is how it preserves it!!