Column Reprint: Tuna

I have to make what is, for a food writer, an embarrassing confession: my favorite fish, far and away, is canned tuna.

Yep, canned tuna, stuff of school lunchroom sandwiches and casseroles made with goopy canned mushroom soup. Love the stuff. Love, love, love the stuff. And I'm not alone. Tuna is the third most commonly purchased foodstuff in the country, after sugar and coffee. Canned tuna is served in more than ninety percent of American households, and accounts for fully twenty percent of all fish and seafood consumed in the US. That's a lot of tuna!

Let's start with the bad: Much canned tuna has dangerously high levels of mercury. This is no joke. Mercury is a neurotoxin, highly poisonous stuff. Even worse, it can cause truly hideous birth defects. If you're pregnant or planning to become pregnant, you should probably shun tuna entirely. And if you've been giving your children tuna several times a week, you need to know that a forty-five pound child eating just one six-ounce can of white tuna per week will be getting more than four times as much mercury as is considered safe. Mercury can cause learning and behavioral problems, and permanent neurological damage. Maybe they'd like egg salad or chicken salad, or even peanut butter?

Here's some good news: Mercury contamination is far, far less in the inexpensive "light" tuna than in the in the pricey albacore or "white" tuna. Government tests showed that on average, white tuna had more than four times the mercury of "light" tuna. This is because albacore comes from bigger fish, who have longer lives, and therefore have longer to absorb mercury from polluted waters. No difference was found between mercury levels in water pack and oil pack tuna. Brand name is no protection; the big brand names have as much mercury as the generic or store brand stuff. (Because they generally come from even bigger fish, tuna steaks have, on average, more mercury even than canned white tuna.)

For years I've been buying light tuna because I liked it better (and, at times, because my budget was tight!) Now I'm profoundly grateful for that preference. There have been times when I was eating three or four cans of tuna per week, and that simple choice may have saved me from dangerous levels of mercury.

What's the rest of the good news? You know at least part of it - tuna is a cheap, tasty source of protein, with no carbohydrate. (This simple fact makes the issue of mercury in tuna of especial concern to low carbers. When she was writing her terrific book Living Low Carb, Fran McCullough told me, "Everyone is eating tuna salad for lunch." That's a lot of canned tuna - and potentially a lot of mercury poisoning.)

Tuna also is a great source of niacin (B3) and B12, and a good source of B6. Tuna also is a good source of Omega-3 fatty acids, which are vital to health. I

So where do we stand? I can't recommend albacore or "white" tuna at all. And personally, I will be limiting my intake to no more than 6 ounces (one standard can) of light tuna per week. Much of that tuna ration I will eat as tuna salad stuffed into tomatoes, in tuna melt omelets, or tossed into a big green salad along with a chopped hard-boiled egg. But when I want something hot, quick, easy, and good, I'll make this

Chinese-style Tuna Soup

1 quart chicken broth
1 teaspoon grated ginger root
2 teaspoons soy sauce
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups chopped fresh spinach
6 ounces canned tuna in water
2 scallions, sliced thin

In a big saucepan, combine the chicken broth with the ginger and soy sauce. Put it over medium-high heat, and bring it to a boil, then turn the burner down till the broth is just simmering.

While the broth is heating, break the eggs into a little glass measuring cup, or another container with a pouring lip. Beat 'em up with a fork. When your soup is simmering, pour 1/3 of the egg into the soup, wait just one or two seconds, then stir with a fork, drawing out the egg into strands. Repeat with the rest of the egg, in 2-3 more additions.

When you're done adding the egg, add the spinach and tuna. Heat through and serve with scallions on top.

3 Servings: 170 Calories; 5g Fat; 25g Protein; 3g Carbohydrate; 1g Fiber; 2g usable carbs.