If you’ve ever had a sore throat after eating canned goods, Cat M (@catwouthats) may be able to tell you why.
She says that throughout her life, she always thought she was just prone to getting strep, but found out she was getting “metal splinters” caught in her throat after using a can opener to crack open some StarKist tuna fish.
Cat details in her video how tiny shards of metal are left on the sides of cans after opening tuna fish. She’s urging folks to use a little tissue to wipe around the edges in order to ensure that their canned tuna fish isn’t scratching their throat because they’re eating metal.
How to prevent metal shards from getting into your canned goods
“PSA for anybody who eats tuna fish from tuna fish cans…just so you know, there are metal scraps on the edges. So what’s you’re gonna wanna do it take a tissue and run it along the edges,” she says, demonstrating her tissue-tuna-fish-can-edging technique.
“So run it along the edges like this and as you can see, after I am done with this, if you can see, see all that, flakes? Those are metal flakes. Those will give you splinters in your throat,” she says, showing off the tissue to the camera after showing off her tissue “hack” that lets tuna can consumers know if they’re about to accidentally show down on bits of metal that can potentially harm them.
“I’ve gotten them a bunch in middle school. They aren’t fun. You’ll think you have strep. It will feel as bad or worse than strep. I was wondering when I was younger why I ‘got strep’ so much that’s because, yeah, do it more than once also.”
She conceded that while “some” of the residue that’s coming off of the can she wipes “is glue” that it’ll still behoove folks who are chomping on tuna fish from out of the can that to wipe the edges down before eating. “But some of it is metal scraps,” she claims.
The clip then transitions to a close up on the scraps in question. “Here’s a little bit of a better view of one, see that big splint and those small splinters? The darker ones are glue but those thin ones? Yeah, those are metal splinters. So, if you got metal splinters, they’re not fun. Be careful guys. Wipe the edges before you eat. I don’t care— ‘But I’m not using the outer edge of the can,’” she says, preemptively anticipating any push back she’d get to her recommendation.
She says that cleaning these edges are important no matter what: “It falls in. It falls in. It do. It do, though. It do. Wipe down the edges. Wipe down the edges but also make sure you fold your tissue multiple times otherwise you will get a metal splinter in your finger, which is a little easier to get out but still just as annoying and painful. Actually not just as painful. Splinters in your throat that are metal are [expletive] painful.”
Other Internet users share the same fears
A Quora forum discussion post about this very same topic yielded a variety of different responses from users on the application. One commenter said that folks have nothing to worry about when it comes to metal shards in their food: “HACCP/ISO certified tuna canners implement adequate food safety measures to address concerns on all forms of contamination. Expectedly of course, Conspiracy Theorists will put forward various scenarios that would prove this to be otherwise.”
Another Redditor stated that they, too, were worried about getting metal shards inside of their food while consuming “tinned food” and remarked that they seemed to think the way their can opener would cut open the lid caused these shards to drop inside of the tuna fish.
One user said in response that if a metal shard is actually sizable enough to hurt an individual, it could probably be spotted prior to consumption. “The danger of metal shards is that they could cut you, but for the most part, any metal shards dangerous enough to be cutting you are also large enough to be easy to see and thus pick out before you pour the can into whatever you’re cooking,” they wrote.
Doctor says metal shards usually pass through the body
It seems like a doctor would agree with that aforementioned statement, as well.
On a Just Ask Medical post, Dr. Mazumdar responded to a canned food consumer’s worry over potentially consuming metal shards that could fall into their grub, but said the specks are so small they’d more than likely just pass through a person’s body.
“Metal shards are usually dangerous since they can cut the intestinal mucus membrane,” she wrote. “But very tiny pieces usually get surrounded by the food eaten and cannot reach the intestines.The shards from the cans, unless large, are usually harmless. the metal itself is not absorbed by the body and pass out in the stool.”
@catwouthats Anyways ‼️‼️ please help Faya and her family get to safety. URL in bio. Please. #psa #tunafish #cannedgoods #cannedtuna #canned #healthsafety #healthconcerns #health ♬ original sound – Cat M
Judging from the comments left in response to Cat’s video, it seemed like there were a lot of folks left freaking out over the possibility of accidentally ingesting spiky metallic objects.
“I honestly did not want to know this what about cans of beans? I’ve never experienced anything from cans but now I’m terrified,” one user wrote.
Another user responded with a quick “hack” that doesn’t involve having to wipe around the edge of a can: just purchase tuna fish with a pop lid. “I mean yeah if you use a can opener on anything i would assume this would happen…i usually buy tuna with the pop tabs,” they suggested.
Others have said that since harming themselves on canned tuna, they’ve only bought it in bags.
“I’ve never thought of that ! I grew up eating tuna most of the time and everytime I would open a can I would cut my hands or fingers so bad. But now I only buy bag tuna I’m so scared of canned,” one wrote.
The Daily Dot has reached out to StarKist via email and Cat via TikTok comment for further information.
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