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Canned tuna protein and calories

Light tuna canned in water and drained is 19.4 g of protein for 86 calories per 100 g. That is 0.23 g of protein per calorie — better than chicken breast, better than eggs, and better than almost anything else you can open with one hand.

Per 100 g, light, canned in water, drained

Drained solids.

In water, not in oil

This is the entire decision. Tuna canned in oil carries the oil, and oil is 884 calories per 100 g. Draining helps and does not fully undo it, because the fish absorbs some. If the ratio above is why you are eating tuna, buy it in water.

Drained is not the same as the tin

These figures are drained solids. A "5 oz" tin is the total contents including water; what is left after draining is closer to 115 g, which is about 22 g of protein for 99 calories. If you log the tin weight against a drained entry you will over-record protein by roughly a quarter.

Light versus albacore

These are for light tuna, typically skipjack. Albacore — "white" tuna — is a different fish with somewhat different figures and, more importantly, higher mercury. US guidance treats light canned tuna as the more frequently-eatable option and albacore as the one to limit, particularly during pregnancy. That is a health question rather than a macro one, and it is worth knowing before you make tuna a daily habit.

What ruins the ratio

Mayonnaise. A tablespoon is roughly the calories of the entire tin, and tuna salad is usually several. The fish is not the variable; what you mix into it is. Log them separately rather than reaching for a combined "tuna salad" entry that matches nobody’s recipe.

Source: USDA FoodData Central, SR Legacy release 2018-04. Figures are per 100 g as published; serving weights are USDA’s own. Records used: Fish, tuna, light, canned in water, drained solids (Includes foods for USDA's Food Distribution Program) (FDC 173709).

Common questions

A drained 5 oz tin is roughly 115 g of solids, about 22 g of protein for 99 calories, at USDA’s 19.4 g per 100 g.

For the protein-to-calorie ratio, yes and by a lot. Oil is 884 calories per 100 g and draining does not remove all of what the fish absorbed.

Per calorie, yes — 0.23 g per calorie against about 0.19 for raw chicken breast. Per 100 g chicken is higher, because tuna carries more water.

US guidance treats light canned tuna as the more frequently-eatable option and albacore as the one to limit, because of mercury. That is a health question worth checking against current FDA advice rather than a macro one.

Compare it with

All twenty-four are on the food macros index.