The canned rip-off
 

Hi to you fellow preppers.

For all you survivalists out there, beware.

I have done a little experiment.

I purchased a 425gm can of tuna for AUD$1.80.

I weighed the can, and Oh No it was $425gms. But then, the can was pretty dusty.

What I found after opening the gross weight, was pretty disturbing.

What was discovered, was this:

30% of that cost purchased went straight down the sink, in the form of water.

Then, after tipping out the contents, and discarding the 40gms tin into the recycle bin, what was actually left, was just 235gms of Tuna.

The critical aspect being, is that the local (inland) sea food mart, sells the best fillets of fresh Abacore Tuna at AUD$8.00 per kilo.

That stuff in that can in no way resembled the fresh Tuna in comparison. I don't know then, what is was.

Sad but true, commercially canned food seems a bit of a rip-off really.

40% of my money was literally thrown down the drain, and had no nutritional value whatsoever.

Something to consider.

Try it one day. Look at what you really are left with even after tipping out the liquids, and then throwing out the can.

Its shocking enough, that for anyone that is not aware of this, might have to rethink their preps

SH

Re: The canned rip-off
 

Can your own. You know a place to get good quality tuna. Can't be too difficult to get some good info on canning it. How about it?

I know what you are saying, don't eat the stuff personally but its either price rises, substitution of ingredients or smaller serves.

Re: The canned rip-off
 

If you bought a can of tuna and only 30% was water then that is a very good brand. I will be posting a thread on this very subject in a week or two...

Re: The canned rip-off
 

i have obeserved that a lof og GIM-ers buy copious amounts of canned tuna.

when TSHTF, most GIM-ers will die from mercury poisoning.

Re: The canned rip-off
 

If you have other sources of protein and rotate them, mercury will not be a big deal. Some people are more susceptible then others to the mercury as well. When I was still in high school I ate 5-10 cans of tuna a week and I didn't get mercury poisoning. This was before I learned that there was high levels of mercury and other toxins in some fish.

Eating tuna is better then starvation. Just make sure you have a variety of protein sources.

Re: The canned rip-off
 

Re: The canned rip-off
 

You know TA, one of the early symptoms of mercury posioning is difficulty spelling.:biggrin:

Re: The canned rip-off
 

Re: The canned rip-off
 

If you buy dehydrated or freeze-dried canned goods, you won't be "ripped off."

Re: The canned rip-off
 

...that's just retarted....

Re: The canned rip-off
 

I buy canned tuna - but only the albacore when it's on sale - and half in oil half in water...but if you drank/used that juice it would have plenty of nutritional value I would think....

I'd be getting the stuff in oil if was 100% prep item...canned in oil it is almost twice the calories....dump the whole can in a noodle dish for easy, healthy and high energy meal....mmmmmm

Chicken of the sea is my favorite brand and I haven't found any issues with it. One of the best preps to have imo - if you like tuna that is. Mercury poison in shtf is the least of my concerns.

Re: The canned rip-off
 

Mercury-Tainted Fish Found Widely in U.S. Streams


LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Scientists have detected mercury contamination in every one of hundreds of fish sampled from 291 freshwater streams, according to a U.S. government study released on Wednesday.

More than a quarter of those fish contained concentrations of mercury exceeding levels set by the Environmental Protection Agency for the protection of people who eat average amounts of fish, the U.S. Geological Survey report said.

More than two-thirds exceeded the EPA-set level of concern for fish-eating mammals.

"This study shows just how widespread mercury pollution has become in our air, watersheds, and many of our fish in freshwater streams," Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said in a statement. The USGS is part of the Interior Department.

The neurotoxin enters the environment chiefly as an air pollutant spewed into the atmosphere by industrial emissions, then falls back to the surface in precipitation and particulate matter carried over long distances.

The main source of atmospheric mercury, according to the EPA, is coal-fired power plants.

Conducted from 1998 through 2005, the USGS study is the first comprehensive survey of mercury contamination in the water, sediments and fish of rivers and creeks throughout the United States.

Most previous studies have focused on lakes, reservoirs and wetlands. Mercury contamination in ocean species such as tuna has also received widespread attention.

'BLACKWATER STREAMS'

Some of the highest levels of mercury in the latest study were found in the coastal "blackwater" streams of North and South Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Louisiana -- relatively undeveloped areas marked by abundant pine forests and wooded wetlands.

USGS hydrologist Barbara Scudder said those characteristics somehow enhance the conversion of mercury from its inorganic form in the atmosphere to a more toxic organic form, methylmercury, which accounts for at least 95 percent of the mercury found in fish.

"Just as there are members of the human population, such as children and developing babies, that are sensitive to the mercury that they get, there are some ecosystems that are also more susceptible to producing methylmercury," she said.

High concentrations also were found in some streams in the West fed by areas where mining had taken place, Scudder said.

As with many pollutants, mercury concentrates as it moves up the food chain, from algae, to insects to small fish and larger predators. The main source of mercury poisoning in humans is from eating fish and shellfish.


Scudder said researchers typically sampled about five fish from each of the 291 streams surveyed. They focused on bigger species such as largemouth bass because they are at the top of the in-stream food chain.

She suggested that people concerned about mercury contamination in stream-caught fish should eat more of the smaller pan species, such as perch, bluegill or crappie.

The EPA said this year that it intends to issue new rules under the Clean Air Act to control air emissions of mercury from coal-fired power plants.

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Technology...ory?id=8368887

Re: The canned rip-off
 

Yes, Mercury poisoning is huge in CA - central CA - not so sure about north CA. They actually did a lot of silver and mercury mining in the central CA foothills.

Mercury poisoning is only even an issue with Tuna because of the Tuna's long life. It lives 25+ years and over that span can absorb a lot of the heavy metals. If you eat Salmon and other short lifecycle fishes - you aren't going to have a problem with mercury.