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Reviews > Food > Meal Ingredients > SafeCatch Tuna Packs > Test Report by Duane Lawrence


SafeCatch Elite Wild Tuna

Initial Report - June 7, 2017
Long Term Report - September 10, 2017

By Duane Lawrence

Tester Information
 
Name:                Duane Lawrence
Email:                duanesgear (at) yahoo (dot) com
Location:           Sparwood, British Columbia Canada
Gender:             Male
Age:                   45 years
Height:               5’9” (1.75m)
Weight:              160 lbs (73 kg)
 
I have been an avid outdoor enthusiast for over 25 years.  I enjoy a variety of outdoor activities including mountaineering, day hikes, multi-day backpacking trips, river and ocean kayaking, back-country skiing, snowshoeing, mountain biking and rock climbing. I have climbed throughout British Columbia, the United States and when opportunity presents itself in Europe and India. I carry a wide variety of gear depending on the type and length of trip.  I am a search and rescue team member in the Southern Canadian Rockies and am part of the swift water, rope rescue and avalanche technical teams and ground search team.

Initial Report

ManufactureSafeCatch Inc.
Web Pagehttps://safecatch.com
MSRP$35.99 (12 pouches)
Packaged InThailand
Packaged Weight2.81 oz (80 g)
Product Volume3 oz (85 g)
IngredientSkipjack Tuna
Dimensions5.4x5x6.9 in (13.7x12.7x17.5 cm)

Nutritional Information

 
Serving Size2 oz (56 g)
Serving Per Container1.5
Calories60
Total Fat0.5 g  (0.02 oz)
Cholesterol20 mg 
Sodium230 mg
Potassium300 mg
Protein14 g (49oz)
 
Product Information

SafeCatch Elite Wild Tuna comes in 3 oz (85 g) packages.  The manufacturer indicates on the packaging that the tuna has 21 grams (0.74 oz) protein, is sustainably caught and additive free. The ingredients list shows skipjack tuna as the only ingredient.  Tuna packets are sold in either 12 or 24 pouch boxes.  SafeCatch Elite Wild Tuna is verified non GMO, is listed as the American Pregnancy association official tuna and certified for paleo diets.  Each packet is easily accessed with a tear open pouch and is made ready to eat although the manufacture recommends needing the pouch first and then let the tuna absorb the pouches liquid prior to eating.

On both the web page and the packaging SafeCatch talks about the way in which their tuna is sustainably caught and that their tuna is the lowest mercury levels on the market with every tuna being tested for mercury levels with a maximum limit of 0.1 parts per million.

The SafeCatch tuna website has a variety of interesting information on their products and tuna in general.  There is also a question and answer section which answers questions about how their fish is caught, their testing methods how the product is cooked and their Artisan cooking process, nothing is added or drained during the cooking process.  They recommend when eating the tuna to empty it into a bowl, chop up the steak and mix it, apparently the tuna will reabsorb its natural oils and juices for a moist and delicious taste.  They also talk about how their tuna is caught without using FADs or long lines and they are a proud partner of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch program.  

For packaging the website says that they hand cut and hand pack solid wild tuna steaks to seal in all the natural oils and nutrients then they slow cook each one once to ensure quality of taste. SafeCatch packages their tuna in BPA-free packaging and has the packages tested by a third-party lab to ensure that there are no BPA's in the materials. The actual pouches are made out of polypropylene food grade plastic and are coated with a very thin layer of aluminum to create a shelf stable product. The sealed packages have a best-before date of two years. SafeCatch has also tested their product for radiation. They state that they don't test every fish but they do send samples of finished product to accredited three-party labs for radiation to ensure their product is not contaminated.

General Observations

For backpacking the SafeCatch Elite Wild Tuna is packaged in a small disposable package that is easily opened.  Once opened the tuna has what appears to be natural oils and juices and a small tuna stake.  Everything about the packaging and web site reassures me that the tuna is of high quality, sustainably caught and contains nothing but tuna.  The additional testing for BPA's, mercury and radiation is also very reassuring.  I am looking forward to seeing how the tuna tastes in a variety of dishes out on some backpacking trips.

Long Term Report


Test Conditions

I have been eating the SafeCatch Tuna over the past 3-months while hiking in the Canadian Rockies and Glacier National Park in Northern Montana as well as on a number of car-camping days.  Throughout the test period I tried to use the tuna in a variety of meals including on crackers, premade sandwiches, right out of the package and in a few meals for added flavour.  

Observations

Over the past three months of hiking and camping I have found that the tuna packets are overall fairly convenient.  The packaging is small and light weight for both hiking with and bringing the wrapper back out.  I was a little concerned about it making a bit of a mess after I had consumed the tuna and was left with the packaging as I thought it might retain some of the tuna juice which could spill in my pack but what I found was that regardless if I ate it out of the package or poured it into a bowl all of the tuna and liquid came out with not enough juice left over to make a mess.  I did put it in a resealable zippered storage bag but more out of the need to have a garbage bag than anything else.  

For overall taste the SafeCatch Tuna is actually very nice.  There is no added anything to it so I got a true tuna experience each time I indulged.  The texture is very nice either used as it comes out of the package which consists of large flakes or mushed up to be placed on a cracker.  Even when used as part of a larger meal the tuna has a nice flavour and was quite enjoyable in everything I made.  The amount of tuna in each packet is fairly good depending on what I was doing with it.  As a snack added to crackers it was very good to share elevating my standard cheese and crackers to a whole new level.  When added to a meal, provided it is for one person there is enough in a package to add a little flavour to the meal.  If on the other hand I was making something with tuna as one of the main ingredients, I needed to use two packets. I would say that generally the tuna packets are made for one person to eat at any given time unless it is being consumed as a snack.

   

For usability the packets are very easy to open although getting everything out is a little challenging.  What I ended up doing is cutting the packet open along the sides as well as using the easy tear opening at the top so that I could acquire all of the tuna a juice.  This was especially needed when I pre-smooshed the tuna in the bag so that it would absorbed the juice before I opened it.  This is important as if I did not either pre-mix the tuna or put it in a bowl and then mix it the juice would not be re-incorporated into the tuna, resulting a dry product.  The manufacturer actually says this on their web site so it was not an issue but unless I had read it there I might not have known this and ended up with dry tuna every time I ate it.  Might be worth adding this very important bit of information on the packaging as well.

The only down side to eating tuna while backpacking, other than a mild concern that a bear might be overly interested in my pack once it was opened.  Actually, this never really occurred to me until now but the thought of fish and a bear that could smell it from a few miles away might concern someone. This is easily remedied by eating all of it and licking the wrapper, and yes I actually licked the wrapper as it was very tasty.  Anyway, back to my initial observation, it takes a little time to the eat tuna out of the pouch which is not normally a problem but I had a couple of mountaineering trips that required quick lunch stops.  Tuna on crackers with cream cheese was not the best choice as it just took too long to eat and clean up.  Back at camp though it was never an issue.  Nor was it an issue when I premade tuna sandwiches for lunch. 

Summary

The SafetCatch Tuna is very tasty and convenient addition to a backpacking trip.  It is easy to get into the packets, adds lots of flavour to meals or can be eaten on its own.  The packets are light weight and are good for one person as part of a meal or to share with another hiker as a snack.

Thank you to SafeCatch and BackpackGearTest.org for the opportunity to test the SafeCatch Elite Wild Tuna.



Read more reviews of Safe Catch, Inc. gear
Read more gear reviews by Duane Lawrence

Reviews > Food > Meal Ingredients > SafeCatch Tuna Packs > Test Report by Duane Lawrence



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