# why does canned salmon have bones?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-canned-salmon-have-bones/155678>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [February 17, 2003, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-canned-salmon-have-bones/155678 "2003-02-17T18:28:39Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 7\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Kalashnikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/2bfe46/32.png) [@Kalashnikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalashnikov)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-canned-salmon-have-bones/155678/1 "2003-02-17T18:28:39Z")

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Canned tuna doesn’t have bones, nor does canned mackerel. Why does most salmon? I like salmon but picking all the little bones out is too much trouble.

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**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-canned-salmon-have-bones/155678/2 "2003-02-17T18:39:32Z")

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> [@](#):
>
> \*Originally posted by Kalashnikov \*  
> Canned tuna doesn’t have bones, nor does canned mackerel. Why does most salmon? I like salmon but picking all the little bones out is too much trouble.

Firstly, I find bones all the time in canned tuna. Due to cooking, they have to be pretty good size to be recognizable (but still soft enough to not really be too noticable when chewing).

Your last comment answers your own question. Trouble = $$$ on the canning line. Salmon have a lot of little fragile bones and it’s hard to remove them without wasting meat.

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**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-canned-salmon-have-bones/155678/3 "2003-02-17T18:46:28Z")

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Canned salmon is usually made from either Pink or Sockeye salmon. They are much smaller than tuna, which are more economically filleted for canning, and the bones are much larger and less able to soften during canning. Salmon is just chunked with bones in for canning; filleting would be so expensive, the cost would make the product uncompetitive.

Those bones are good for you, a great source of calcium. The canning process makes them so tender, they are easily eaten without any problems. Don’t be so picky.

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**Author:** ![Lure](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ba8739/32.png) [@Lure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lure)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-canned-salmon-have-bones/155678/4 "2003-02-17T19:07:36Z")

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\<hijack\> What do you do with canned \* Mackerel \*? I’ve only eaten it as a baked/broiled fish.

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**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-canned-salmon-have-bones/155678/5 "2003-02-17T19:51:55Z")

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People at the University of Alaska recently built a salmon deboning machine: [Deboner: The Business of Bones](http://www.voicesofinnovation.org/archives/Jan_03/P95_1_10_03.asp)  
Apparently, it wasn’t a simple task.

> [@](#):
>
> Salmon pin bones are a special problem because these tiny bones aren’t connected to the rest of the fish’s skeleton. And most filleting processes remove only the main skeleton.

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**Author:** ![antechinus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/fbc32d/32.png) [@antechinus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/antechinus)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-canned-salmon-have-bones/155678/6 "2003-02-17T22:39:26Z")

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Gee, you must have a tough time eating sardines.

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**Author:** ![Kalashnikov](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/2bfe46/32.png) [@Kalashnikov](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalashnikov)\
**Post date:** [February 17, 2003, 10:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-canned-salmon-have-bones/155678/7 "2003-02-17T22:51:47Z")

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I just eat the mackerel as is, its moist enough (packed in sunflower oil). I usually have it with rice.