According to the National Fisheries Institute, an industry trade group, canned tuna is the second most popular seafood product in the US, second only to shrimp. Americans eat over 30% of the world’s total canned tuna production.
Tuna meat also has levels of mercury high enough that pregnant persons are advised to avoid consumption. Mercury is a known neurotoxin, and while levels in tuna are not typically dangerous to people, they can be high enough to be detrimental to the development of fetuses.
Researchers from Chalmers University of Technology, based in Gothenburg, Sweden, have found a new way to package tuna that could reduce mercury levels by up to 35 percent. Their findings were recently published in the journal Global Challenges.
