Australian Healthy Food Guide – September 2019

Mercury rising?

The good news is that the tuna used

for canning are usually young, so they

don’t have the chance to accumulate the

mercury levels of bigger, longer-living

fi sh like shark or swordfi sh. Two-to-three

cans of fi sh a week is considered safe for

most people, but pregnant women and

young children should be particularly

cautious because of the potentially

negative impact of too much

mercury on young brains.

SirenaTuna

Springwater&Lemon

Per95gcan:321kJ(77cal),

16.8gprotein,0gsatfat,

95mgomega-3,

113mgsodium

SafcolPremium

SalmonSmoked

Per95gcan:351kJ(84cal),

8.3gprotein,1.1gsatfat,

868mgomega-3,

205mgsodium

JohnWestSardinesin

ExtraVirginOliveOil

Per110gcan:850kJ(208cal),

14.9gprotein,4gsatfat,

2270mgomega-3,218mg

sodium,199mgcalcium

Catc o th da

TUNA SALMON SARDINES

Text:

Melissa

Meier.

Photos:

iStock.

Compare

THE CAN

Check nutrition panels for:

✓ Less than 800kJ

(191cal) per 100g

✓ Less than 4g sat fat

per 100g

✓ Less than 400mg

sodium per 100g

✓ Aim for 200mg

omega-3 per 100g

✁

Cut out & keep

HOWMUCH

FISHISINTHECAN?

Ifyou’relettingpriceguideyou,itpaystocompare

theamountoffishactuallyfoundindifferentcans.

Checktheingredientslist,whichstatesthefish

contentasapercentageofthewholeproduct.

Thetotalamountoffish(incansusingoilorwater)

canbeanywherefrom 60 to 93 percentofthecan’s

totalcontents.Forflavoured-seafoodproducts,the

seafoodcontentfallsto 42 to 65 percent,whiletuna

spreadsdropevenfurthertoabout 23 percenttuna.

Cheaperproductsmaysimplycontainlessseafood

andmoreoil,brineorspringwater.

SALMON & SARDINES

What applies to tuna largely

goes for salmon and sardines.

One point of difference is that

some salmon and sardine types

contain soft, edible bones, a

good source of calcium for

strong bones and teeth. A small

can of sardines (that‹s about

90g, drained) can have up to

500mg of bone-friendly calcium

— roughly half of most adults’

recommended daily intake.

SEPTEMBER 2019 HEALTHY FOOD GUIDE 83