Gold Seal Tuna with Mayonnaise and Water Chestnuts - a Product Review

Convenience food is going all out these days. It seems that everyone is jumping on the serving size bandwagon, trying to make their products fit into small snack-sized packaging in an effort to look healthier.

I'm not easily fooled. I know how to read a product label. And Gold Seal Tuna with Mayonnaise and Water Chestnuts isn't pulling the wool over my eyes.

This product is sold with Ritz-style crackers in a clear plastic package that Godzilla would be challenged to open easily. Okay, I'm exaggerating, a little. But I hardly call this product easy-open. If anything this product is grossy over packaged. One big point againt Gold Seal in my books.

As for the actual tuna, mayo and water chestnut mixture, I had my son (a chef wannabe) do an analysis over lunch the other day. He ripped open the easy-open tin (a la cat food tin). His first comment on his comment card: smells fishy and looks like cat food. In terms of texture, he told me that it was super creamy, and offered no real texture. It wasn't pleasant, he said. The flavour offered a slight hint of lime, with an overwhelming taste of mayonnaise. Which is fine if you like mayo, but not so good when you like flavour in your food. He was disappointed when he couldn't find any water chestnuts in the product.

He liked how easy it was to carry and serve the product but found that the texture was too creamy and he didn't like how Gold Seal packaged it.

Our family would likely not buy this product, partly due to overpackaging on Gold Seal's part, and partly because of the lack of texture and flavour. We'd be much more likely to purchase just the plain tuna (some brands, but not necessarily Gold Seal) and make our own tuna salad.