Safe Catch Elite Wild Tuna: 24g Protein per 3 oz, Labelgrade B+ (82/100)
B+ 82 / 100 — Solid wild skipjack steak, hand-packed in its own juices with nothing but a little salt. 24g of complete protein per 3 oz at 110 calories and essentially zero fat, plus Safe Catch's signature draw — every can is individually mercury-tested to a limit far stricter than FDA's. The only real knock is sodium, and that's standard for canned fish.
🛒 Buy on Amazon →The short answer
Safe Catch Elite Wild Tuna delivers 24 g of protein for 110 calories in a 3 oz (85 g) serving, with essentially zero fat (1 g total) — about 28 g of protein per 100 g, top-tier density for any whole food (USDA FDC 2670313). A full 5 oz can drained gets you roughly 30-32 g. The ingredient panel is one fish plus a little salt: wild skipjack, hand-packed and cooked in its own juices. It earns a B+ (82/100) — exceptional lean protein, no added fat or sugar, dinged mainly on sodium (300 mg). But the macros aren’t the reason this can costs more than a store brand. Every individual tuna is mercury-tested to a limit roughly 25x stricter than the FDA action level — which is what makes this the can a mercury-cautious eater can reach for more often.
Why the B+
| Dimension | Grade | Score | Why |
|---|---|---|---|
| Protein density | A | 92 / 100 | 28 g per 100 g — on par with cooked chicken or beef, and carried on almost no fat (1 g total) |
| Ingredient quality | B+ | 80 / 100 | Skipjack and salt only — no water, oil, broth, or stabilizers; the salt is the one thing off an A |
| Saturated fat load | A+ | 100 / 100 | 0 g saturated, barely any fat at all to begin with |
| Sugar load | A+ | 100 / 100 | 0 g sugar, 0 g carbs — structural for plain fish |
| Sodium load | C | 63 / 100 | 300 mg per serving — the single weak point, though normal for canned fish |
| Fiber | F | 30 / 100 | 0 g — unavoidable for any pure animal protein |
The fiber “F” is structural; no canned fish scores otherwise. The honest knock is sodium, and at a C it’s the most dinged dimension on the card — 300 mg is fine occasionally but adds up if tuna is a daily habit, which is exactly why the No Salt Added version exists. What the grade can’t see is the per-fish mercury testing: Labelgrade scores the nutrition panel and ingredient list, not sourcing, so the safeguard that is Safe Catch’s main reason to exist doesn’t move the 82. If you weight low-mercury sourcing, this is a better buy than a flat B+ implies.
The low-mercury case — and who it’s actually for
This is the only thing that separates Safe Catch from a generic can, so it’s worth being precise. Two layers stack here. First, the species: skipjack is a small, short-lived fish that accumulates little mercury — chunk-light skipjack averages about 0.13 ppm versus roughly 0.32 ppm for albacore (the same reason the FDA calls light tuna a “Best Choice” and tells people to ration albacore). Second, the test: Safe Catch screens every individual fish and rejects any above a cap about 25x stricter than the FDA action level, so the worst can in a case still clears a bar far below the legal one.
That combination matters most to one group: people told to limit tuna because of mercury. Pregnant women and young children are the textbook case — standard advice caps them at a couple of servings of low-mercury tuna a week and warns them off albacore entirely. A per-fish-tested skipjack is the version of tuna that fits inside that guidance with the most headroom, which is the practical reason to pay up. If you eat tuna once in a while and aren’t in a sensitive group, the testing is a nice-to-have you’re unlikely to feel.
Why it’s leaner and denser than the can next to it
The 24 g / 110 cal line beats most cans for a mechanical reason, not a marketing one: Safe Catch packs the raw fish and cooks it sealed in the can, in its own juices, with no water or oil added. Typical water-packed tuna is pre-cooked, then sealed in water or broth that you pour down the drain — and some protein and flavor leave with it. Nothing here gets poured off, so the 24 g sits in a firmer, denser steak rather than a watered-down flake. That’s also why the fat stays at 1 g: there’s no packing oil adding its own calories on top of the fish, the way oil-packed tuna does.
How it compares
Tuna brands print different serving sizes, which makes the front-label protein numbers misleading at a glance. The fair column is per 100 g — and on density, solid-pack skipjack like this sits at the top.
| Product | Protein per serving | Per 100 g | Calories | Sodium | Pack |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Safe Catch Elite Wild Tuna (this product) | 24 g (3 oz) | ~28 g | 110 | 300 mg | Solid skipjack, own juices |
| Bumble Bee Solid White Albacore in Water | 13 g (2 oz) | ~23 g | 60 | 140 mg | Solid albacore, water + broth |
| StarKist Chunk Light in Water | 13 g (2 oz) | ~23 g | 60 | 250 mg | Chunk skipjack, water + broth |
Against both mainstream cans, Safe Catch’s edge is real: ~28 g per 100 g versus ~23 g, the payoff of solid steak cooked in its own juices instead of meat packed in water and broth. Its ingredient panel is also cleaner — two items, where Bumble Bee adds vegetable broth and a pyrophosphate stabilizer and StarKist adds vegetable broth. The honest trade is salt: per gram, Safe Catch (~353 mg/100 g) runs lighter than StarKist (~446 mg/100 g) but heavier than Bumble Bee’s notably low-salt albacore (~250 mg/100 g). And note the mercury angle cuts the other way against albacore — Safe Catch’s skipjack is the lower-mercury species, where Bumble Bee’s solid white is the higher-mercury one. If salt is your only axis, Bumble Bee wins; on density, clean label, and low-mercury sourcing together, Safe Catch does.
Ingredients
Skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis) and salt — that’s the entire panel, verbatim from the USDA Branded Foods entry (FDC 2670313). No water, no oil, no vegetable broth, no stabilizers. The salt is the only thing standing between this label and an ingredient-quality A, and the only ingredient responsible for the 300 mg of sodium.
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Quick Facts
Per serving · 3 oz (85 g)
Full nutrition facts
| Nutrient | Per Serving (3 oz (85 g)) |
|---|---|
| Calories | 110 |
| Protein | 24g |
| Total Fat | 1g |
| Saturated Fat | 0g |
| Trans Fat | 0g |
| Total Carbohydrates | 0g |
| Dietary Fiber | 0g |
| Total Sugars | 0g |
| Added Sugars | 0g |
| Sodium | 300mg |
| Cholesterol | 50.2mg |
| Calcium | 20.4mg |
| Iron | 1.44mg |
| Potassium | 350mg |
Scope: This page applies specifically to Safe Catch Elite Wild Tuna (5 oz (142 g) can) · UPC 859480006077. Other sizes, flavors, or formulations may differ.
How this fits each diet
Each score is computed from the same USDA nutrition + ingredient data, against the published rules of each diet. They tell you "does this food fit this diet" — not whether the diet is right for you.
contains animal-derived ingredients
contains meat, fish, or gelatin
no wheat, barley, rye, or malt detected in USDA ingredient list
Frequently Asked Questions
How much protein is in Safe Catch Elite Wild Tuna?
24 g of protein per 3 oz (85 g) serving (USDA FDC 2670313) — about 28 g per 100 g. A full 5 oz can drained runs closer to 30-32 g. That clears the FDA 'high in protein' threshold (48% of the 50 g Daily Value per serving) easily, and it's complete animal protein with all nine essential amino acids.
What is Safe Catch's mercury testing, and why does it let me eat tuna more often?
It's the brand's whole reason for existing. Safe Catch tests every individual fish for mercury and rejects any that exceed a limit roughly 25x stricter than the FDA action level. Because the cap is per-fish and far below the legal limit, the brand markets this line as safe to eat more frequently than rationed albacore — the specific draw for pregnant women and young children, who are told to limit tuna precisely because of mercury. Skipjack (the Elite species) is already low-mercury because it's small and short-lived — for reference, chunk-light skipjack averages about 0.13 ppm mercury versus 0.32 ppm for albacore — and the per-fish test is a second screen on top of that.
Is this skipjack or albacore?
The Elite line (this product) is wild skipjack — the smaller, lower-mercury tuna species, the same one labeled 'chunk light' on supermarket shelves. Safe Catch also sells a Wild Albacore line, which is the larger, milder, firmer 'white' tuna with slightly higher mercury. Skipjack has a more pronounced tuna flavor; albacore is milder and flakier. Both Safe Catch lines are solid-steak packed, not chunked.
Why only 1 g of fat when most tuna is packed in water or oil?
Safe Catch hand-packs the raw fish and cooks it inside the sealed can in its own natural juices — no added water, no added oil, no vegetable broth. The result is 1 g of fat per serving and a firmer, denser steak than typical water-packed tuna, which is usually pre-cooked and then sealed in water that gets drained off (carrying some protein and flavor with it). Because nothing is added to dilute the meat, the 24 g of protein is packed into less weight.
How much sodium is in it, and how does that compare?
300 mg per 3 oz serving — about 13% of the 2,300 mg daily limit, and the one number keeping this off an A. Tuna cans use different serving sizes, so compare per gram: Safe Catch is roughly 353 mg per 100 g, versus about 446 mg per 100 g for StarKist Chunk Light and only 250 mg per 100 g for Bumble Bee Solid White Albacore. So it salts lighter than StarKist but heavier than the leaner-salt albacore. Safe Catch sells a No Salt Added version if sodium is your main concern.
Is Safe Catch Elite keto- and Whole30-friendly?
Completely. 0 g carbs, 0 g sugar, 1 g fat, 24 g protein per serving — a near-pure lean-protein profile, and net carbs are 0 g. The skipjack-plus-salt panel fits keto, paleo, Whole30, and carnivore protocols without qualification; Whole30 specifically lists Safe Catch as a compliant brand.
Is it worth the premium over a 79-cent can?
On protein-per-dollar alone, a store-brand can wins easily — the macros are similar. What the premium buys is the per-fish mercury testing, the solid-steak (not minced) texture, and the own-juices pack with nothing drained away. If you eat tuna a few times a week, or you're pregnant or feeding kids and want to keep eating it, that low-mercury guarantee is the whole point. For an occasional sandwich, the cheap can does the same macro job.