Salmon vs tuna: calories compared

Most people asking this are deciding which fish to eat more often. This page's tuna is canned light, which sits with salmon on the FDA and EPA Best Choices list, the lower-mercury group: 2 to 3 servings of 4 oz (113 g) a week in pregnancy and breastfeeding.

Tuna is many fish. Albacore, sold as white tuna, typically carries about three times the mercury of canned light. Albacore and yellowfin are Good Choices: in pregnancy, one serving a week in place of the Best Choices servings, not on top of them. Bigeye is a Choice to Avoid.

Tuna has a second risk. In a review of 103 histamine (scombroid) poisoning incidents, the fish was mainly tuna, and the FDA notes that histamine builds up in fish that is not properly chilled and is not removed by heating. Salmon brings omega-3 fats this table does not list: in a randomized trial, two portions a week for 18 weeks raised blood omega-3. In pregnancy, the FDA says to eat refrigerated smoked salmon, such as lox, only cooked into a dish, because of Listeria.

Rotate salmon with canned light tuna, and keep fresh tuna cold. For a child, the advice is 2 Best Choices servings a week, about 1 oz each at ages 1 to 3, and no bigeye.

What canned tuna is packed in changes its calories. In the UK composition table, drained tuna canned in brine has 109 calories and 1.0 g of fat per 3.5 oz (100 g), and tuna canned in sunflower oil has 159 calories and 6.4 g of fat. Brine keeps it lean.

Evidence behind this note

1. Level E US FDA and EPA advise 8 to 12 oz of lower-mercury seafood a week in pregnancy, list canned light tuna as a Best Choice and bigeye tuna as a choice to avoid. US FDA/EPA, Advice about Eating Fish (page updated 03/05/2024)
2. Level E FDA and EPA list canned light tuna (including skipjack) as a Best Choice, albacore and yellowfin tuna as Good Choices, and bigeye tuna as a Choice to Avoid with the highest mercury levels. FDA and EPA, Advice about Eating Fish
3. Level E In the FDA/EPA fish lists salmon and canned light tuna are Best Choices, albacore tuna is a Good Choice, and bigeye tuna is a Choice to Avoid for its mercury, so the two fish are not interchangeable in pregnancy advice. FDA/EPA, Advice about Eating Fish, page dated 2024-03-05
4. Level E US FDA and EPA advice puts canned light tuna among Best Choices at 2 to 3 servings a week, and notes albacore typically has three times more mercury. FDA/EPA, Questions & Answers from the FDA/EPA Advice about Eating Fish, 2022
5. Level E Joint FDA and EPA fish advice says to eat 2 to 3 servings a week from the Best Choices list. US FDA and EPA, Advice about Eating Fish
6. Level C In outbreak reports pooled by a meta-analysis, the fish involved in histamine poisoning was mainly tuna or Istiophoridae species. Crit Rev Food Sci Nutr, 2018
7. Level E The FDA warns that histamine in poorly chilled fish cannot be removed by washing, freezing or heating, so cooking fish into soup does not make spoiled fish safe. US FDA, FDA Issues Final Compliance Policy Guide on Scombrotoxin (Histamine)-Forming Fish and Fishery Products, 2024
8. Level B Salmon fed on rapeseed oil carried less than half the omega-3 in its flesh compared with salmon fed on fish oil. After eighteen weeks of eating it twice a week, people's blood omega-3 had risen by the same amount either way. European Journal of Nutrition, 2021
9. Level E FDA advises pregnant women to avoid refrigerated smoked seafood, such as salmon or cod labeled nova-style, lox, kippered or smoked, unless it is in a cooked dish such as a casserole. Canned or shelf-stable smoked seafood is okay. US FDA, Listeria (Food Safety for Moms-to-Be)
10. Level E The FDA Listeria guidance for pregnant women says refrigerated smoked seafood, such as salmon, is most often labeled nova-style, lox, kippered, smoked or jerky. US FDA, Listeria: Food Safety for Moms-to-Be
11. Level E In UK composition data 3.5 oz (100 g) of drained tuna canned in brine has 109 calories and 24.9 g protein, while tuna canned in sunflower oil has 159 calories and 25.4 g protein. CoFID 2021 (Public Health England, OGL v3.0), codes 16-416, 16-417 Tuna
12. Level A A 2023 network meta-analysis of 152 randomized trials found that eating more fish led to about 1.9 lb (0.85 kg) more weight loss than control, which the authors called trivial. Eur J Nutr, 2023
13. Level A A 2023 network meta-analysis of 152 randomized trials with 9,669 adults found eating more fish gave 1.9 lb (0.85 kg) weight loss versus control, a trivial effect with low certainty, and no food group gave important weight loss in people with overweight or obesity. Eur J Nutr, 2023

Written from the studies and agency guidance we hold for both foods, reviewed by the Bioma editorial system. How we verify.

Read more about these foods

• Salmon and tuna: one fish has trials, the other has monitoring data
• Salmon: wild against farmed, measured rather than assumed
• Tuna: nearly everything studied about it is contamination

What the studies say

• Is salmon good for weight loss? It fits a calorie cut and adds very little
• Is tuna good for weight loss? Never tested, and fish as a group adds under 2.2 lb (1 kg)
• Is tuna safe to eat during pregnancy? Yes, if it is a low-mercury kind

Rankings and guides

• Calories: what it does and what the evidence shows
• Which foods give the most protein for the fewest calories?
• Dietary fat: what it does and how much you need
• Salmon: full nutrition facts
• Tuna: full nutrition facts

More comparisons

• Salmon vs tilapia
• Salmon vs steelhead trout

• Salmon: USDA FoodData Central, Fish, salmon, pink, cooked, dry heat, FDC ID 172001 · full profile · all forms of salmon
• Tuna: USDA FoodData Central, Fish, tuna, light, canned in water, drained solids, FDC ID 334194 · full profile · all forms of tuna

Each food is one USDA entry, chosen as it is usually eaten. Other cuts, brands and preparations differ; the links show them. % DV uses FDA Daily Values for adults. How we verify.