People who follow a vegan diet avoid eating animal products, including conventional canned tuna, which is the key ingredient for popular dishes such as tuna melts and tuna salad sandwiches. Here’s why cruelty-free and sustainable vegan tuna is a better choice.

Traditional canned tuna is, of course, made from fish. Not just any fish, but one of the larger fish in the ocean, which means that it’s spent a lifetime growing and feeding on smaller fish. The problem is that as they feed on smaller fish, they absorb, store and concentrate the toxic chemicals, including cancer-causing chemicals and mercury, that the smaller fish contain. Once absorbed, it is very hard for the fish to get rid of these harmful chemicals.  Since fish cannot be easily tracked, tuna may swim through very polluted waters without us knowing it. If we eat such a fish, we can absorb all the harmful substances it’s been storing up throughout its life. 

While canned tuna is a very popular ingredient, children and pregnant moms are advised to limit their consumption because of the risk of damage to a child’s development from these chemicals. In addition, the cholesterol and saturated fat found in all fish don’t do our arteries any good, and no benefit has been found to consuming so called “heart-healthy fish oils”.

The fishing industry is renowned for ethical and environmental problems, such as overfishing, bycatch, and habitat destruction, plus the problems of slavery that is rife in the industry. And of course, the fish themselves suffer greatly.

So it’s great to know that companies have been coming up with alternatives to tuna fish that taste very realistic.  Most common brands use a blend of soy and wheat proteins, or protein mixes containing peas, chickpeas, beans and/or lentils, along with various seasonings including some seaweed or algae extract to give it a subtle oceanic flavor.

Choices to look for include Nestle’s Garden Gourmet Vuna, Good Catch’s Plant-Based Tuna, and Loma Linda Tuno.