Why You Should Keep Starkist Canned Salmon Off Your Grocery List

Canned salmon is an easy and delicious choice for lunches, dinners, hors d'oeuvres ... you name it. Good canned salmon provides so much versatility, allowing you to make salmon patties, pair it with crackers, or simply eat it straight from the container. It should always be on your grocery list but when you do hit the aisles, Starkist canned salmon is one product you want to keep out of your shopping cart.

The best type of canned salmon is moist, delightfully flaky, and comes from a company with sustainable business practices, which is why we put Starkist's offering in last place when ranking 13 canned salmon brands from worst to best. While the product did get points for being wild-caught from Alaskan waters, the company fails in sustainability by sending its small cans of salmon all the way to Thailand to be packaged. Once the salmon is caught, processed, and frozen in Alaska, Starkist ships it to another continent to finish the job rather than just keeping it in the same location.

While this is a common business practice, freshness is inevitably lost when food takes a trip around the world by boat. The lack of fresh flavor is evident in the overly-salted, and sometimes metallic, taste of the fish. Some reviewers have also mentioned that their canned salmon came rife with fish bones and skin, or in one large chunk rather than having the expected shredded texture.

If there's one thing that Starkist does right, it is opting for wild-caught salmon. Fish that's caught in the wild tends to be better in terms of flavor, quality, and nutritional value. The fisheries in Alaska are trusted to stay more on the ethical side of things by practicing sustainable habits. If you can't get your hands on Alaskan pink salmon, red salmon is an excellent option, as well as sockeye, which is one of the most flavorful types of salmon you can buy.

In terms of nutrition, salmon is known to have lower amounts of mercury compared to other kinds of fish like tuna, which tends to have higher mercury levels. Starkist is a known canned tuna packager, with some reviewers noting that its canned salmon tasted too much like tuna, possibly indicating cross-contamination. To stay on the safer side, opt for canned salmon that isn't packaged or processed alongside other types of fish.

There are so many delicious and inventive ways to use canned salmon, so when you do, make sure you have the best product possible. As for that best option? According to our ranking, Wild Planet is the way to go for a clearly superior tasting product fished through the most sustainable practices. If you're unable to find that brand at your local grocery store, look for Rubinstein's or Faust's for high quality red salmon options.