# Tuna cans **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 20, 2010, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tuna-cans/554348 "2010-09-20T00:54:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 12:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tuna-cans/554348/21 "2010-09-20T12:34:19Z")
I just recently discovered that my grocery store sells store brand 3 packs of tuna with pop tops. The cans are smaller than normal cans - 3 oz instead of 6. Perfect for a quick sandwich. It’s chunk light tuna, packed in water - not tuna salad, which I often see in pop tops, usually packaged with crackers and a little spoon. Southeast US, fwiw. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tuna-cans/554348/22 "2010-09-20T12:40:49Z")
I just fed the cats a can of Friskies Flaked Tuna. From a pull-top can. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 12:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tuna-cans/554348/23 "2010-09-20T12:56:36Z")
The latest novelty I’ve seen in canned goods was a pull-up stuck-on lid which seemed thick aluminum foil. It was available for several kinds of fish cans, including tuna. I see different containers available in different areas, sometimes even from the same brand. It’s both about which kinds of machines the manufacturers have available and about what do their customers (in this case, the purchase managers of grocery stores and supermarkets) request. Sometimes you get a case where the supplier would be perfectly happy to provide things in a different, more-convenient format but the very-large client still asks for it “the old fashioned way” and the supplier doesn’t want to risk pissing off the very-large client by suggesting that, ehm, you know, maybe we could send it the new way? Everybody else buys it in the new package, yes? Would you like some? It’s very nice! ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tuna-cans/554348/24 "2010-09-20T13:12:37Z")
If I didn’t use a can opener on tuna, how would the cat know to come running? ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 1:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tuna-cans/554348/25 "2010-09-20T13:50:37Z")
And finally on post #24, a full twelve hours after the OP, we get to the truth behind it all. Gosh we’re slipping. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tuna-cans/554348/26 "2010-09-20T14:09:33Z")
In Michigan I’ve grown accustomed to the superior quality (to me) of the tuna-in-a-packet. I can only seem to find the little, itsy bitsy envelopes here in Mexico, so I’ve gone back to the canned tuna. All of the best quality canned tuna, unfortunately, has those damned pop-tops that make it difficult to squeeze out the excess water. Gosh, it’s those little things that make you homesick. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 2:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tuna-cans/554348/27 "2010-09-20T14:18:50Z")
I agree that there’s some kind of marketing or distribution anomaly being experienced by the OP. All the canned tune I eat has pull top lids. In general I find that single-serving sized cans are pull top while larger cans require can openers. ---
**Author:** ![Dahu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dahu/32/3416_2.png) [@Dahu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dahu)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tuna-cans/554348/28 "2010-09-20T18:51:04Z")
Here in the UK we have [this](http://www.john-west.co.uk/products/no-drain-tuna/). “No drain” tuna. Amazing how no-one ever thought of this before… And you can’t see from the pics, but it does have a ring-pull on the bottom. Just like the can I’ve just eaten. Yummy. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tuna-cans/554348/29 "2010-09-20T18:55:09Z")
> [@Dahu](#): > > Just like the can I’ve just eaten. Yummy. You’re not supposed to eat the can… ---
**Author:** ![Dahu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dahu/32/3416_2.png) [@Dahu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dahu)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tuna-cans/554348/30 "2010-09-20T19:45:54Z")
> [@Darth\_Panda](#): > > > [@Dahu](#): > > > > Just like the can I’ve just eaten. Yummy. > > You’re not supposed to eat the can… Well, it did have kind of a metallic taste. But I thought that was just the mercury. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 7:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tuna-cans/554348/31 "2010-09-20T19:59:41Z")
> [@Dahu](#): > > Here in the UK we have [this](http://www.john-west.co.uk/products/no-drain-tuna/). > > “No drain” tuna. Amazing how no-one ever thought of this before… > > And you can’t see from the pics, but it does have a ring-pull on the bottom. Just like the can I’ve just eaten. Yummy. I don’t understand; it’s still tuna in either water or oil. What makes it “no drain?” ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tuna-cans/554348/32 "2010-09-20T20:10:19Z")
There’s hardly any water or oil. About the same amount as you’d be left with after draining/squeezing a regular can of tuna. Mind you, they’re about double the price, those no-drain cans. You’d be better off buying a tuna squeezer off eBay for a couple of quid. People swear by those things. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 20, 2010, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tuna-cans/554348/33 "2010-09-20T23:14:15Z")
> [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](#): > > My cat tuna has a pull-up ring. However, my cats prefer cat chicken (also with pull top)to cat tuna. And they prefer Bumblebee to cat chicken. > > Of course they always get the juice. I don’t know how I’d get the juice out, with a pull-top can. Nine Lives has a more rigid pull-top than Friskies, and you could get the juice out, just like a regular can . . . not that you’d want to. But because of its rigidity, I once cut myself opening a 9 Lives can . . . and needed nine stitches and a tetanus shot. That’s why I only use Friskies. ---
**Author:** ![Balthisar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/balthisar/32/2825_2.png) [@Balthisar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balthisar)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tuna-cans/554348/34 "2010-09-21T00:00:30Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > > [@Dahu](#): > > > > Here in the UK we have [this](http://www.john-west.co.uk/products/no-drain-tuna/). > > > > “No drain” tuna. Amazing how no-one ever thought of this before… > > > > And you can’t see from the pics, but it does have a ring-pull on the bottom. Just like the can I’ve just eaten. Yummy. > > I don’t understand; it’s still tuna in either water or oil. What makes it “no drain?” But, the stuff that comes in envelopes is also “no drain,” and it has good chunks of tuna instead of tuna paste (by comparison, that is). ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tuna-cans/554348/35 "2010-09-21T15:39:25Z")
**twickster** , I’ve noticed this too. At least for 9 Lives brand cat food, most varieties come in pull-top cans, but the tuna varieties do not, and I’ve often wondered why. So I did a little googling, and one of the things that came up was [this](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/books/chap1/hyenas.htm), which appears to be an excerpt from one of David Feldman’s “Imponderables” books that addresses the question (about 2/3 of the way down the page). Apparently, the tuna is canned at a different location from the other varieties, one where fresh tuna is more readily available but the canning facilities are more primitive. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tuna-cans/554348/36 "2010-09-21T15:52:24Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > **twickster** , I’ve noticed this too. At least for 9 Lives brand cat food, most varieties come in pull-top cans, but the tuna varieties do not, and I’ve often wondered why. > > So I did a little googling, and one of the things that came up was [this](http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/books/chap1/hyenas.htm), which appears to be an excerpt from one of David Feldman’s “Imponderables” books that addresses the question (about 2/3 of the way down the page). Apparently, the tuna is canned at a different location from the other varieties, one where fresh tuna is more readily available but the canning facilities are more primitive. Yay! Thanks! And I guess the fact that my stash of people tuna is all non-pull-top is (forgive me please) a red herring. ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tuna-cans/554348/37 "2010-09-21T17:27:49Z")
I’m on the east cost in mid-small sized community, and most of the cheaper canned tuna I see in local grocery stores all require can openers. Mmmm… I do love a good can of cheap reddish, chunk lite tuna fish. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tuna-cans/554348/38 "2010-09-21T21:11:11Z")
> [@Ximenean](#): > > There’s hardly any water or oil. About the same amount as you’d be left with after draining/squeezing a regular can of tuna. Mind you, they’re about double the price, those no-drain cans. You’d be better off buying a tuna squeezer off eBay for a couple of quid. People swear by those things. I have never heard the phrase “tuna squeezer” before. It creates an interesting mental image (would an octopus be considered a tuna squeezer?). What do they do that you can’t accomplish by setting the lid back in the can after opening and pushing on it while holding the can upside-down? ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [September 21, 2010, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tuna-cans/554348/39 "2010-09-21T21:21:10Z")
[quote=“Gary “Wombat” Robson, post:38, topic:554348”] I have never heard the phrase “tuna squeezer” before. It creates an interesting mental image (would an octopus be considered a tuna squeezer?). What do they do that you can’t accomplish by setting the lid back in the can after opening and pushing on it while holding the can upside-down? [/QUOTE] Well, I’m not sure that’s the correct technical term. “Tuna press” or “can drainer”, I guess. The advantages are (a) easier leverage and (b) less risk of lacerating yourself on the lid. It hasn’t happened to me yet, but I’m always a little nervous that it will, because I like to really squeeze that thing hard (yes, yes, I mean the lid). ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Downtown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Mr\_Downtown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Downtown)\ **Post date:** [September 22, 2010, 12:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tuna-cans/554348/40 "2010-09-22T00:15:28Z")
I’ve never seen pop-top tuna in Chicago, though I don’t look at the little individual servings that come in three-packs. [Here’s a useful device from Pampered Chef for draining tuna.](http://www.pamperedchef.com/our_products/catalog/product.jsp?productId=12011&categoryCode=KW) It’s the perfect size to fit inside the can and compress the fishy bits. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tuna-cans/554348.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tuna-cans/554348.md?page=3)