Solid White Albacore Tuna Comparison*
Kirkland Signature Albacore at Retail
White tuna, water, White tuna, water, vegetable
salt, pyrophosphate broth, salt, pyrophosphate
Cost $11.99/8 cans Varies
Size of can
7 ounces 5 ounces
Cost per ounce
21. 4¢ 40¢ to 56¢
Cost per can $1.50 $2 to $2.79
Protein per serving
15 grams 10 to 13 grams
*Prices based on surveys taken in the Seattle area and nationwide in January 2009.
Ingredients
needs food-derived protein to repair cells and
make new ones, but not all proteins are alike.
Many high-protein foods happen to have a lot
of unhealthy saturated fat and cholesterol. Not
so with tuna. Canned albacore contains three
times more long-chain essential omega- 3 fatty
acid than canned light tuna. Omega- 3’s are
thought to help protect the heart. You need
them in your diet because your body cannot
make them on its own. This is why they are
labeled “essential.” (Other essentials in tuna
include selenium and amino acids.)
Canned tuna is one of the few foods that
is a naturally rich source of vitamin D.
Vitamin D, required for the normal growth of
teeth and bones, can be made in the body
after exposure to the sun, but many people
don’t get enough vitamin D this way. Instead,
it is up to you and your diet to get the vitamin
D you need every day.
For the most up-to-date information on
fish and shellfish in your diet, visit the U.S.
Food and Drug Administration’s Web site for
the Center for Food Safety and Applied
Nutrition (
www.cfsan.fda.gov/list.html), and
click “Seafood.”
read labels when considering the cost per can
of tuna. You’ll find that Kirkland Signature
offers more grams of protein (aka albacore)
per 2-ounce serving than other brands do.
This is because Costco does not use vegetable
broth, hydrolyzed proteins, bleach and preservatives in its canned albacore. In fact, the
only ingredients are albacore, a little water, a
small amount of salt for flavor and pyrophosphate (a salt used to prevent crystal formation
during canning).
Fancy 100 percent white albacore solid
loins, water packed, double cleaned, kosher
certified, sustainable and line-caught in the
wild, filled with nutrients and protein—I’ll
take Costco’s clean, superior-quality Kirkland
Signature canned albacore tuna any day. C
Every label tells a story
Costco does not follow the industry practice of adding vegetable broth or hydrolyzed
proteins as flavor enhancers in its Kirkland
Signature albacore tuna. The additives, generally made of soy, bind to tuna, puffing it up
and creating a higher weight than if the tuna
were packed in water.
This is why it is so important to always
Value stacksup: Withthe same number
of cans, Kirkland
Signature offers
a fullpoundmore
tha n StarKist.
Bigger cans, better value
AT ONE TIME cooked tuna came in 7-ounce
cans. Over the years this all-American favorite was downsized by tiny increments until
it leveled out at 6 ounces. Now comes word
of a new drop to 5 ounces.
Wondering about Costco’s position on
this latest tuna reduction, I meet with members of Costco’s corporate tuna team, which
includes Tess Wilkins, Steven Frank, Jerry
Gittleman and Jay Tilley.
Tess shares, “When the major national
tuna brands notified us they were downsiz-ing to 5 ounces we knew it was time to
change direction.”
allows our member to open fewer cans for their
desired serving size and recipes. To my knowledge, Costco is currently the only retailer in the
tuna industry making this change. We will see
which retailers choose to follow.”
Tess takes a more practical approach as
she hands me samples: “Here, lift up one
of the new 5-ounce cans. Now try one of our
hefty 7-ounce cans. Isn’t it beautiful? This
7-ounce feels like how a can of tuna should
feel.” Then she adds with a smile, “You know,
it really comes down to how many tuna sandwiches you can make from a can. Try it for
yourself—you’ll see.”
It offers up 2½ tablespoons of clear
water and 12 tablespoons of tuna after
pressing and draining. The hubby adds mayonnaise, chopped crunchy dill pickles and
crisp leaves of romaine lettuce to create
three lusciously hearty sandwiches … which
we happily split and eat for dinner.—PV
Going bigger
As of press time, all of the albacore and
chunk light tuna retail packs offered by
Costco, including Kirkland Signature, Chicken
of the Sea® and Bumble Bee®, are back in
the original 7-ounce cans. The new sizes
are available in all Costco warehouses and
through Costco.com’s Business Delivery
program. (On the home page, click on the
Business tab and key in your zip code, then
click on “commercial.”)
Jay states, “We believe we did what
was right for our members. Increasing the
net weight for all brands we carry provides
a greater value per ounce and once again
Three sandwiches to one
I enlist the hubby’s help, as he just
happens to be the best tuna sandwich
maker I know.
He opens two of the new 5-ounce cans
of tuna (one chunk light and one albacore)
offered by a well-known brand and presses
the lids to drain off liquid. Each can yields
about 3 tablespoons of broth and less than
4 tablespoons of tuna. Each has enough tuna
for just one sandwich.
Moving on to the new 7-ounce can of
Kirkland Signature albacore, we discover
that it is easy to open, with no messy broth
spilling out on the counter.
Where the tuna is landing
• Kirkland Signature 7-ounce/8-pack solid
white, superior albacore tuna and
Chicken of the Sea 7-ounce/12-pack
chunk light tuna are offered in all
Costco warehouses.
• Bumble Bee 7-ounce/8-pack albacore
is scheduled for the Northeast and
Southeast regions.
• Chicken of the Sea 7-ounce/8-pack
solid white tuna is in all regions except
the Northeast.
• Kirkland Signature albacore and Chicken
of the Sea chunk light and solid white
tuna in numerous configurations are
available through the Business Delivery
program at Costco.com.
