Starkist Albacore Ready-to-eat Tuna Salad, Albacore
StarKist Co. · Canned Tuna · barcode 00080000502407
What stands out
- From the label
The ingredients list Titanium dioxide, which has stricter rules elsewhere. Strictest: Not allowed in the EU since 2022. Details
- Lab testsNo lab has published results for this exact product.
- RecallsNo FDA recall lists this barcode.
- Additives1 ingredient has stricter rules elsewhere. Strictest: Not allowed in the EU since 2022. Which
- TypicalFDA's tests of canned tuna show what's typical. See levels
Fish advice for pregnancy, breastfeeding and children
On FDA and EPA's fish chart: Tuna, albacore/white tuna, canned and fresh/frozen: Good Choice.
FDA and EPA advise people who are or may become pregnant, people who are breastfeeding, and parents of children 1 to 11:
- Pregnant or breastfeeding: 2 to 3 servings a week from the Best Choices list, or 1 serving a week from the Good Choices list. A serving is 4 ounces.
- Children: 2 servings a week from the Best Choices list. A serving is about 1 ounce at ages 1 to 3, 2 ounces at 4 to 7, 3 ounces at 8 to 10, and 4 ounces at 11.
By the week
EPA's daily limit for methylmercury adds up to about 49 µg a week for a 154-lb adult and 10.5 µg for a 33-lb toddler. A daily limit is an average over time, so one fish meal counts across the whole week.
- At FDA's average for tuna, canned in water, drained solids (230 ppb, 3 samples, 2018-2020; not a test of this product): about 1.9 servings of 4 ounces a week reach EPA's limit for a 154-lb adult; about 1.6 servings of 1 ounce for a 33-lb toddler.
Source: FDA and EPA, Advice about Eating Fish (revised October 2021). Mercury in fish FDA tested
Additives with restrictions somewhere
From the ingredient list on file (label data dated 2022-12-22). Recipes change, so check the package you have.
Titanium dioxide (E171)
- US (FDA): Allowed FDA allows it as a color additive, up to 1% of the food's weight. Source
- EU: Removed from approved list from 2022-08-07 Removed as a food additive in 2022; food made under the old rules could be sold until August 7, 2022. (Regulation (EU) 2022/63) Source
- Texas: Warning label required from 2027-01-01 Labels developed on or after January 1, 2027 must warn that the product contains an ingredient not recommended for consumption in Australia, Canada, the EU or the UK. (SB 25 (2025)) Source
Typical for canned tuna
What FDA found when it bought and tested this kind of food across the US. These are not tests of this product.
- Cadmium: typically 21 ppb (FDA, 3 samples, 2018-2020).
A toddler reaches EPA's daily limit at about 590 g (21 oz) a day; an adult at about 2.8 kg (6.2 lb).One serving (1 pouch, 85 g, from the label):14% of a toddler's daily limit3% of an adult's daily limit
- Mercury: typically 220 ppb (FDA, 3 samples, 2018-2020).
A toddler reaches EPA's daily limit at about 6.5 g (0.23 oz) a day; an adult at about 30 g (1.1 oz).One serving (1 pouch, 85 g, from the label):▲ 13× a toddler's daily limit▲ 2.8× an adult's daily limit
- Arsenic (total): typically 1,200 ppb (FDA, 3 samples, 2018-2020). No US agency limit we can cite.
- Lead, Perchlorate: usually below 4 ppb, the lab's limit, in FDA's samples.
FDA samples behind these numbers
- Lead in Tuna, canned in water, drained solids: found in 0 of 3 samples, all below 4 ppb (2018-2020)
- Cadmium in Tuna, canned in water, drained solids: found in 3 of 3 samples, average 25.3, highest 34 ppb (2018-2020)
- Mercury in Tuna, canned in water, drained solids: found in 3 of 3 samples, average 230, highest 250 ppb (2018-2020)
- Arsenic (total) in Tuna, canned in water, drained solids: found in 3 of 3 samples, average 1,200, highest 1,400 ppb (2018-2020)
- Perchlorate in Tuna, canned in water, drained: found in 8 of 20 samples, average 3.51, highest 29 ppb (2008-2012)
"Typically" is FDA's middle sample. Daily amounts use the long-run average and each chemical's daily limit (EPA reference dose, or FDA's level for lead) for a 33-lb toddler and a 154-lb adult. ppb = micrograms per kilogram of food. Source: FDA Total Diet Study.
Not tested
No published results for this product cover: Metals, Perchlorate, Phthalates (plastic softeners), Phthalate substitutes, Bisphenols. That means nobody has published a test, not that these are absent.
Ingredients (from the label)
WHITE TUNA, WATER, WATER CHESTNUTS, CELERY, SOYBEAN OIL, DILL PICKLE RELISH (CUCUMBERS, WATER, VINEGAR, SALT, XANTHAN GUM, POTASSIUM SORBATE, SODIUM BENZOATE [PRESERVATIVE], CALCIUM CHLORIDE), CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF THE FOLLOWING: EGG YOLK, VINEGAR, SUGAR, ONION POWDER, MUSTARD FLOUR, SALT, XANTHAN GUM, MODIFIED FOOD STARCH (CORN), DEXTROSE, GUAR GUM, CARRAGEENAN, CELLULOSE GEL, SODIUM CARBOXYMETHYLCELLULOSE, PHOSPHORIC ACID, TITANIUM DIOXIDE, POTASSIUM SORBATE AND SODIUM BENZOATE (PRESERVATIVES), NATURAL AND ARTIFICIAL FLAVORS, CALCIUM DISODIUM EDTA.
From USDA FoodData Central, label dated 2022-12-22. Labels change; check the package.