Why You Should Never Order White Tuna At Seafood Restaurants

You'll find this tuna term quite often on the menu of sushi restaurants — something called "white tuna." Some seafood restaurants might offer dishes made from this mysterious variety of tuna, too. Here's why you should be cautious: not only is it not always real tuna, but in some cases, it might cause digestive issues.

Genuine "white tuna" is what you'd call a cut taken from an albacore tuna. Unlike the rosy-hued flesh of skipjack or yellowfin tuna that we're all familiar with, albacore meat has a much paler pink color. The flavor is delicate with a firm, meaty texture that some describe as steak-like — so really, if you're sure you're getting albacore, it can be a pretty nice treat.

But here's the problem: you're not always guaranteed to get albacore when you order anything with "white tuna" in the name. Sometimes, though, you'll encounter escolar masquerading as white tuna — also known as "butterfish" or "snake mackerel" — and having a bite of this can absolutely ruin your night.

While albacore is actually a type of tuna, escolar isn't. Not only that, escolar can make you sick enough that many countries have banned or restricted the sale of this fish. You see, an escolar's diet is mostly other small animals like squid, crustaceans, and smaller fishes. As it digests food, a compound called gempylotoxin, a waxy ester, accumulates in its flesh since the fish cannot digest it. 

Gempylotoxin remains in its flesh even after it's been caught and processed; unfortunately, just like the escolar, our stomachs also can't digest it. When we eat it, the toxin causes something called keriorrhea — and trust us, you don't want to experience it. Think stomach cramps and serious digestive troubles that can last for hours. Definitely not how you want to end your seafood dinner.

Despite the warning, however, if you're curious about albacore, don't let this scare you off entirely. Just ask your server to clarify what fish they're actually serving as "white tuna." If they don't have a clear answer, try the salmon instead (and maybe avoid that restaurant in the future — it's a shady restaurant practice to not be upfront about what they're serving, especially if it can affect the diner's health).