The best canned tuna you can buy in the UK (top 5)

Published by Finn Hayden

Tuna is basically a superfood - it's high in protein, packed with vitamins and minerals, and tastes great. It's also really versatile, working well as a sandwich filling or when mixed with pasta.

There are lots of options out there when it comes to canned tuna, and we thought it would be useful to round up the best that you can buy in the UK. Let's get into it:

Rio Mare Tuna

Rio Mare is actually an Italian brand of tuna, and it's probably the most popular brand of tuna in Italy. But you can buy it in the UK, and if you can get your hands on it then you should definitely try it because it's great. This is Yellowfin Tuna which is a little pinker than you might be used to, but it has a lovely taste. It's mixed with olive oil and a pinch of sea salt. Learn more and buy it here - amazon storefront

Ortiz Bonito Tuna In Olive Oil

Ortiz Bonito is a tuna brand from Spain which is very popular here in the UK. You'll probably find that Ortiz Bonito is a bit more expensive than other brands of tuna in the UK, but there is good reason for this - the tuna is pole line and caught, and rather than Skipjack or Yellowfin tuna, it's Albacore tuna which is rarer and harder to catch. This tuna is much whiter in colour compared to most of the other tuna on the supermarket shelves, and we find it's a bit sweeter too. It comes canned in olive oil, learn more and buy it here - sainsburys.co.uk

Waitrose

Regular readers of our guides won't be surprised to see Waitrose featured here as we're so often very impressed with the food products from this supermarket brand. The tuna from Waitrose is Skipjack and is caught in the Maldives using pole and line fishing, meaning it is 100% dolphin-friendly. We like the tuna steaks which are in olive oil, as we find the chunks to be really meaty and very tasty. Learn more and buy it here - waitrose.com

Co-op

The Co-op is another supermarket that makes great food, such as the delicious pizza. And we're very impressed with how seriously the Co-op takes the fish that they source. As noted on the Co-op website, all of the fish sold by the supermarket is certified to at least one of three independent schemes and is sourced from well-managed farms and fisheries. This includes the tuna, which is pole line and caught. The supermarket is also a member of the Global Tuna Alliance, an organisation which advocates for better management of tuna fisheries globally. It's clear that the Co-op takes tuna very seriously which we love to see. Learn more and buy it here - coop.co.uk

Princes

Princes is one of the biggest and best-known tuna brands in the UK, and the company has built a reputation as a trustworthy company to buy tuna from. We love that Princes tuna is dolphin-friendly and that all of the tuna from this brand can be traced back to the boat that it was caught on. The fisherman use a combination of purse seine nets and pole and line fishing methods to catch the tuna, both of which minimise bycatch. Learn more and buy the tuna here - tesco.com

What can you do to buy better tuna?

The best thing to do is to do your research - check the websites of the tuna brands that you're buying from and make sure that the brand is making an effort to reduce bycatch. Also, make sure that the tuna you're buying is sourced from a country which belongs to at least one of the 5 Tuna RFMOs:

CCSBT- Commission for the Conservation of Southern Bluefin Tuna
IATTC- Inter-American Tropical Tuna Commission
ICCAT- International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas
IOTC- Indian Ocean Tuna Commission
WCPFC - Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission

We hope this guide helps you to find a high quality canned tuna. Let us know if you've tried any of these or if you have any other recommendations for us to try!