# Starkist tuna is better than Bumble Bee tuna.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starkist-tuna-is-better-than-bumble-bee-tuna/433849>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [January 17, 2008, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starkist-tuna-is-better-than-bumble-bee-tuna/433849 "2008-01-17T09:42:08Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![3acresandatruck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/3/e79b87/32.png) [@3acresandatruck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/3acresandatruck)\
**Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starkist-tuna-is-better-than-bumble-bee-tuna/433849/41 "2008-01-18T21:52:41Z")

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[QUOTE=tremorviolet]  
Hmmm, I looked up the ingredients of [Starkist Chunk Light](http://www.amazon.com/Starkist-Chunk-Light-7-06-Ounce-Pouches/dp/B000CR3YVI/ref=pd_sim_gro_title_1)  
Is the vegetable broth what you’re talking about?

It’s in [Bumble Bee](http://www.amazon.com/Bumble-Bee-Solid-Albacore-12-Ounce/dp/B000KT1GDG/ref=pd_ts_gro_18?ie=UTF8&m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&s=grocery) as well.

(BTW, I’m gonna pimp my Whole Foods tuna again. Here’s the ingredients: Tuna, Spring Water, Salt)  
[/QUOTE]

Yes, I’d suspect that the ‘vegetable broth’ is the same thing. I was looking at canned tuna, not pouches (and it was a few years ago). From Wikipedia:

> [@](#):
>
> Hydrolyzed vegetable protein, or HVP, is produced by boiling scrap vegetables, such as soy, corn, or wheat, in hydrochloric acid and then neutralizing the solution with sodium hydroxide. The acid hydrolyzes, or breaks down, the protein in vegetables into their component amino acids. The resulting brown powder contains, among other amino acids, glutamic acid which consumers are more familiar with as MSG, or monosodium glutamate

My impression is that they called it HVP, so we wouldn’t know it had MSG; I wouldn’t be surprised to learn they now call it vegetable broth, so we don’t know it’s HVP (which is really hidden MSG). Alas, there’s no Whole Foods store anywhere near me.

In the end, it appears that you, **Barbarian** , and I agree that we’d prefer that there was only tuna and water (or oil) in our tuna.

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**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\
**Post date:** [January 18, 2008, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starkist-tuna-is-better-than-bumble-bee-tuna/433849/42 "2008-01-18T22:18:09Z")

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[QUOTE=Knowed Out]  
So why do they call it Chicken of the Sea if it’s tuna? There’s no chickens in the sea, are there? They should call it Chicken by the Sea, or for the Sea.

Hey, somebody had to toss in the Jessica Simpson reference. Might as well be me.  
[/QUOTE]

Small halibut are called ‘chicken’ halibut, but I suspect that Chicken of the Sea is a reference to the mild white meat of the albacore tuna.

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**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\
**Post date:** [January 22, 2008, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/starkist-tuna-is-better-than-bumble-bee-tuna/433849/43 "2008-01-22T05:31:23Z")

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Sorry, been deathly ill.

No, I wasn’t buying tuna in oil. It was clearly labelled tuna ‘packed in water’. I ended up buying other brands, and now I’m in a country that hasn’t yet starting throwing soy in with the fish, but now I have to check the labels again for veggie broth.

If only someone could tell me why I can’t find vegetarian soup made with_out_ beef, I’d be a happy camper.

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