# If I eat a can of tuna, how many fish have I eaten? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 13, 2004, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-a-can-of-tuna-how-many-fish-have-i-eaten/244999 "2004-05-13T19:07:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![KP](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/a9adbd/32.png) [@KP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KP)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-a-can-of-tuna-how-many-fish-have-i-eaten/244999/21 "2004-05-14T01:13:58Z")
“Steak” isn’t a grade, it’s a cut. It doesn’t come on cans, but is found at the seafood counter. Salmon, for example, is often sold in three forms: whole fish, steaks (transverse cuts of the body), sides (longitudinal cuts [from head toward the tail] on one side of the skeleton, including the skin) and true filets (without the skin) at the seafood counter of most well-stocked markets. True filets are essentially boneless. Steaks and sides hold up better on a grill. Sides and other longitudinal cuts of some fish (e.g. shad) are not boneless, depending on their skeletal structure. "Fresh"chunks are slightly suspect in many areas, because it is believed that they are used to either salvage or quickly sell fish that are slightly past their peak. Now that fresh or “previously frozen” seafood are widely available even a thousand miles inland, I suspect that it’s simply marketing: It’s awkward to offer a specific type/cut of fish that was swimming free yesterday or the day before, alongside a [cheaper] offering that’s still be okay, but is a few days older. [Though fishhandling and consumer knowledge have improved in recent years, markets are still known to behead cut up whole fish whose eyes betray that they have passed the very pinnacle of freshness.) Most people have heard that fresh fish should never smell or taste fishy, yet I’ve seen many a fish counter, mere miles form the ocean here in Boston, that was fishier than plumber at Watergate!) Tuna in a can is cooked, not raw like fish market steaks/filet. If you get a chance to savor the almost illegally butteriness of good Buri (yellowfin tuna sushi) you’ll find it has no relation to canned tuna. Not only is raw tuna very different from canned, but sushi is the highest grade of tuna: the slightest defect would be immediately evident in a raw and unadorned piece of fish). I’m not a snob. A good canned tuna is wonderful in salad, casserole or sandwich. It’s just that fresh tuna is a completely different ingredient; you’d hardly know they were the same creature if you weren’t told. Canned tuna also comes in solid [essentially one complete piece from a steak) to chunk (larger intact pices and some flakes) to flake (very small pieces), but those are sorting grades, more than an indication of quality. ‘Better’ fish do tend to be used for solid vs. flake, simply because opening a can that contains a large blemish could put you off the brand. BTW, though there can be a wide range of quality in “previously frozen” fish, ship-frozen fish can be quite good, especially since few of us buy our fresh fish when the boat comes in). In fact, all sushi-grade sea fish in Japan is blast-frozen to -60 degrees on the ship (It’s a legal requirement, because it kills fish parasites). I suspect that the American mania for “fresh, never frozen” sushi on the 80’s was one reason why we had more health problems with it than the Japanese did, though they easily ate 100 times as much [net, and per capita] as we did. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-a-can-of-tuna-how-many-fish-have-i-eaten/244999/22 "2004-05-14T08:23:09Z")
> [@KP](#): > > “Steak” isn’t a grade, it’s a cut. It doesn’t come on cans, It does here; it is also available raw at the fresh counter, but there is definitely such a thing as tinned tuna steak (or _sold_ as ‘steak’) - on opening the tin, it is very clearly apparent that it contains a single, thick disc of meat, cut to fit the tin. ---
**Author:** ![Snooooopy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ee7513/32.png) [@Snooooopy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snooooopy)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 10:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-a-can-of-tuna-how-many-fish-have-i-eaten/244999/23 "2004-05-14T10:27:05Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > Yeah, that’s why they mix some dolphin in there, to cut the cost… 😉 I _only_ eat Dolphin Killer brand tuna – “The taste of mammal in EVERY bite!” ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 12:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-a-can-of-tuna-how-many-fish-have-i-eaten/244999/24 "2004-05-14T12:38:21Z")
> [@Abbie Carmichael](#): > > WOW!!! > > I had NO idea that tuna were that big!!! I always thought they were the size of catfish or so!!! > > Thanks! That would be because the only tuna you ever saw before was a cartoon, and his name was Charlie!!! Tuna scare me. They’re huge. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-a-can-of-tuna-how-many-fish-have-i-eaten/244999/25 "2004-05-14T14:44:14Z")
> [@scr4](#): > > Incidentally, one whole tuna can cost over $10,000. > [@Usram](#): > > Wow. That must have been a pretty big can. _stands and claps_ Bravo!!! ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-a-can-of-tuna-how-many-fish-have-i-eaten/244999/26 "2004-05-14T14:57:25Z")
I suppose maybe I should have said ‘varieties’, rather than ‘grades’; I suppose the pricing scale involved made me think of them as grades of _quality_, rather than presentation. I do appreciate that ‘steak’ refers to transverse cuts, however. ---
**Author:** ![Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rex_fenestrarum/32/7265_2.png) [@Rex\_Fenestrarum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rex_Fenestrarum)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 3:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-a-can-of-tuna-how-many-fish-have-i-eaten/244999/27 "2004-05-14T15:07:24Z")
> [@Snooooopy](#): > > I _only_ eat Dolphin Killer brand tuna – “The taste of mammal in EVERY bite!” Are you being funny? Or did you not realize that he meant dolphin fish? ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-a-can-of-tuna-how-many-fish-have-i-eaten/244999/28 "2004-05-14T15:14:03Z")
> [@Rex Fenestrarum](#): > > dolphin fish? WTF? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-a-can-of-tuna-how-many-fish-have-i-eaten/244999/29 "2004-05-14T15:18:51Z")
> [@Rex Fenestrarum](#): > > Or did you not realize that he meant dolphin fish? No, he did not. Hence the wink at the end of his post. And it’s [dolphinfish](http://www.fishinaction.net/Dolphinfish.htm). ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-a-can-of-tuna-how-many-fish-have-i-eaten/244999/30 "2004-05-14T15:53:52Z")
Yeah, I meant dolphin, not dolphinfish (mahi-mahi). It was a joke about dolphin-safe tuna. ---
**Author:** ![cher3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/da6949/32.png) [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-a-can-of-tuna-how-many-fish-have-i-eaten/244999/31 "2004-05-14T16:50:56Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > Wow, I’ve never seen the ‘Steak’ grade on this side of the pond, just Chunk or Flake (or Grated). What are the price ratios? > > DD I think what is called “steak” in the UK would be called “solid” in the US, from the description. ---
**Author:** ![Hunter\_Hawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/50afbb/32.png) [@Hunter\_Hawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hunter_Hawk)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-a-can-of-tuna-how-many-fish-have-i-eaten/244999/32 "2004-05-14T16:58:05Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > Wow, I’ve never seen the ‘Steak’ grade on this side of the pond, just Chunk or Flake (or Grated). What are the price ratios? Well, your location sez you’re in Arizona, which I suspect is something less than a hotbed of quality seafood. You can get tuna steaks in cans here; you just have to go to fancy-schmancy stores or contact individual suppliers (I tend to get a lot of canned tuna from a fisherman who comes to my local farmer’s market). Prices tend to be much higher than “normal” canned tuna–you can expect to pay between five and ten bucks a can. Which is expensive, yeah, but after you try the good stuff, mass-market canned tuna will taste like cat food. I like the tuna in oil from [these folks](http://www.tunatuna.com). I haven’t tried [this tuna](http://www.josephsons.com/p4fanaltunsolw.html) yet, but their non-canned smoked seafood is fantastic. > [@ltfire](#): > > Get yourself to a seafood restaurant and order a tuna steak. Baked, broiled or blackened. There is NO comparison to the tin can variety. ( and don’t ask for mayo on the side). Actually, I’d recommend going to a sushi restaurant and ordering a few pieces of regular tuna, toro, and chu-toro. ---
**Author:** ![CrazyMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ee59a6/32.png) [@CrazyMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyMonkey)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2004, 6:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-a-can-of-tuna-how-many-fish-have-i-eaten/244999/33 "2004-05-14T18:18:28Z")
\OK, but how many chickens are in a can of Chicken of the Sea?\ ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-a-can-of-tuna-how-many-fish-have-i-eaten/244999/34 "2004-05-19T10:53:46Z")
> [@DesertDog](#): > > Wow, I’ve never seen the ‘Steak’ grade on this side of the pond, just Chunk or Flake (or Grated). What are the price ratios? > > DD I checked this last night and the ‘steak’ (solid) is about 25% more than the ‘chunks’, but the drained weight is much higher for the same size can (i.e. there is very little oil or brine). ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [May 19, 2004, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-eat-a-can-of-tuna-how-many-fish-have-i-eaten/244999/35 "2004-05-19T15:12:22Z")
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