Et tu(na), Greenseas

Last 20 March I linked to Greenpeace’s Canned Tuna Guide [1, 2]. It ranks tuna brands based on several environmental criteria. Whilst Greenseas tuna’s fourth on the list of 12, it’s the highest ranked brand available in Deloraine – even though it’s in the red, i.e. very poor, category. Last week I bought a ‘425g net’ can of Greenseas ‘Tuna chunks in springwater’. Opening it, I was astounded to see the water level well below the can’s upper rim; and the tuna well below the water level. I weighed the can’s contents at 282g (66%) tuna and 143g (34%) water. So I phoned Heinz (i.e. Greenseas’ parent company) [3]. The consumer liaison woman sounded uninterested. She pointed out the label states the tuna’s 65% of the can’s contents and it comprises four servings of 70g each. These figures agree with my measured 282g tuna within the can’s 425g net weight. But I think the ratio of 34% water to 66% tuna’s excessive as is the can’s size given a significant airspace in the can above the tuna and water. I said to the Heinz woman that to me, notwithstanding the correct labelling, these two factors mislead the consumer. She said she’d pass this on to the marketing department. I replied that as I’d taken the trouble to phone, it’d be reasonable for Heinz to respond to my two complaints, i.e. not merely record them. Grudgingly she said Heinz would write to me ‘in a week’. I await its reply. Stay tuned.

P.S. Happy 10th birthday today, darling Indi.