Posted April 17th, 2007 at 5:40PM2/11/2008 UPDATE: See The Great Tuno Campaign
So “tuno” was a soy product that looked, tasted, and even – to a certain extent – smelled like tuna. But it was soy and vegetarian. So my family and I enjoyed this wonderful product for many years, the health-food store in Saratoga being the only place locally that carried it. Then they stopped. Someone said that it wasn’t made anymore, but how could that be? It was such an amazing product! (We mostly made vegetarian tuna noodle casserole and tuna salad with it.)
Well my student organization is having a potluck of sorts for our last meeting. I was all set to make some veggie tuna salad for it. I didn’t believe that anyone in their right mind would ever stop making tuno. But and scouring both Wegmans and the crazy co-op here in Ithaca, I couldn’t find it!
I come back up to campus, and search the internet. I find references to tuno. The company that produced it: Natural Touch. I go to their website, and it redirects me to Morningstar Farms!
Coincidence? I THINK NOT. Morningstar AKA KELLOGG(!) must have bought out Natural Touch and stopped producing their amazing products.
FOR SHAME.
And now I can’t make my faux-tuna salad. 
UPDATE: After navigating around Morningstar’s poor website, I happened upon a list of discontinued products. Among them:
Morningstar Farms® Tuno® Tuna Fish Substitute made with Vegetable Protein
And to add insult to injury, they re-branded it “Morningstar” before discontinuing it.
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I will never understand why vegetarians want to eat products that taste like meat or fish?
Tuno lovers everywhere must be devastated, sorry for your loss.
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Well, personally I like the taste of tuna or meat. Or actually, I’ll rephrase – it’s a nice change of pace from stir fries or veggie-tasting things, plus buying ready-made things like soy burgers is EXTREMELY easy. Just throw in the oven.
And actually, very few of these faux meat products taste like meat. They’re usually much better.
And when I’m living with my parents, it makes it easier for them (omnivores, sheesh!).
Tuno was amazing. But I’ve found a few recipes with garbonzos or tofu and kelp, which adds a “fishy” flavor.
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Trying to figue out what it was, I found this article:
http://veganlunchbox.blogspot.com/2005/12/unfortunate-incident-of-tuno-in-lunch.html
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That guy’s insane.
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I miss Tuno! I was visiting my mother the other day and she was having a tuna sandwich!!! I miss it so much! Chickpeas will never be a substitute for tuna… or Tuno… sigh.
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Echo here, I loved Tuno – and now it is gone, have all the fixings for tuna salad ready, ran to the store – zip, zilch, nada, zero….went to their site – discontinued! I enjoyed the fillet’s too, also discontinued….and I am not going to fall for the garbanzo beans, but I am willing to soak TVP in water with kelp powder (where the heck does one find kelp powder?) and give that a go…..
RIP Tuno
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Hey, I am another who adored Tuno and is in morning. As to the question of why a vegetarian would want to eat something that tastes like meat, well, it’s because it tastes good. I consider the eating of meat to be morally indefensable for a number of reasons. But I am not grossed out by flesh, certainly not by the taste of it. Nothing tastes as good as meat. I haven’t eaten it in twenty-five years and I never will again under any circumstances. But make no mistake- it is a sacrifice for many of us who become vegetarian.
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I LOVE Tuno and am sooo mad that it is discontinued. I love the other Morningstar products and don’t know why they wouldn’t want to carry this item. They must have at least 5 or 6 different kinds of burgers, and about 3 different types of Chicken, why wouldn’t they want to carry something different like Tuno! Especially when there is no other competition for Tuna. Maybe if enough of us call Morningstar and request they start making it again, they’ll come up with something in it’s place. I’ve already called them to find out why I couldn’t get it anymore and let them know I really liked the product and was not happy that it was discontinued. I think I’ll call them again!
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I live in the third world country also known as the US Virgin Islands. Frozen Tuno is alive and well down here! We get alot of strange vegetarian products I have never seen stateside. I have a tube of it in my freezer now. I just bought it and haven’t tried it yet, so I am willing to ship it if any of you want it!
monicaeckard@hotmail.com
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well, sadly, i just recently used my very last can and will miss it. never tried the frozen product, but my ex and i really liked Tuno Salad… and as the veggielunchbox guy eventually discovered, this surprisingly good product REALLY needed to be drained, rinsed and drained to get the packing liquid flavor and texture off. what a pity it’s really gone.
seeing that kellogg had bought them made the sudden disappearance from my local whole foods market make sense, suddenly.
i remember real canned tuna, both albacore and tongol… prepared right, Tuno was at least as good, and made darn good canapes, too!
alas poor Tuno… i’ll have to hunt around for frozen… in Cambridge Mass, one would have hope here!
cheers!
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If enough of us who truly love Tuno and miss it sign a petition to Morning Star, maybe they will reconsider their very foolish decision to discontinue this one truly unique and wonderful product. As others have pointed out, discontining it makes no sense.
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It is good to see that we are not alone. I can’t believe that this unique product was discontinued. My husband and I have complained to all levels of the clueless giant corporation. It is amazing that they didn’t know their market.
Let’s keep complaining.
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Yes, I loved it too. Is there any hope some company might bring it back? The chick pea thing is OK, but it’s not tuno.
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NOOOO! I finally found frozen Tuno one year ago at my health food store. I LOVED IT!!! I missed tuna SO much and was so happy to find an equally tasty replacement. I paid over $7.00 for it. After gobbling it up I hurried back to Lori’s Natural Foods to find they stopped carrying it. I am so depressed now to find out it has been discontinued. I am going to call Worthington and urge everyone else to do the same, daily. I just emailed them. please feel free to cut, paste and modify as necessary:
“I cannot find this delicious tuna substitute anywhere now, not even on your website. Not only that, I cannot find anyone anywhere who makes anything even close! Please bring this back, I promise to buy tons. I will respond to every website where poor people have complained about it being discontinued so that everyone will know it is back. Please, please, please? I love and miss fish I am a vegetarian because I love animals and the environment, not for health reasons or because I don’t like the taste of meat.”
website: http://www.kelloggs.com/cgi-bin/brandpages/faq/list.pl?skin=worthington;Company=41
ph. # 1-800-557-6525
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I MISS MY TUNO
When I found out tuno was being discontinued I bought 2 cases ( we have a large all vegi – family)
anyway it is now gone & I really want a tuna sandwich.
I to have e-mailed worthington to no avail – it was so nice to have a different chioce besides the regular veggi foods. ( I can’t cook to save my life so I have nothing to use in place of my tuno )
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[...] April 17th post lamenting the discontinuation of Tuno (The Case Of The Missing Tuno) has continued to generate traffic and comments long after it was initially written. In the face of [...]
I think there’s no real reason why Tuno cannot be back on health food store shelves again. A health food store told me that it wouldn’t carry Worthington Steaklette or Prosage anymore, yet I went back a few months later and those products were back in the freezer. It is a matter of demand. Please please please everyone who LOVES Tuno keep calling and writing Morningstar. Never never never never give up! I have been climbing the walls like a madman because I need my Tuno!
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I used my last can of Tuno yesterday. I have been saving it because I knew I wouldn’t be able to buy anymore but I was afraid to keep it any longer. I used half of it in a Tuno-noodle casserole and made Tuno salad with the rest. So good — and so sad. It doesn’t really taste just like tuna but has a similar texture and works so well in those recipes. I don’t understand, either, why they discontinued it. If I had known in advance I would have bought two cases too!
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I sent an e-mail requesting them bring it back, and they said it was discontinued due to lack of demand. Stock response.
(I’ve written up a form letter you can send on this follow-up post here)
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Kellogs is making Tuno still
http://www.whitemaleconsumer.com/archives/2008/the-great-tuno-campaign/#comment-35531
you can thank me via email
Echosaisis@aol.com
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Nuh-uh.
http://www.whitemaleconsumer.com/archives/2008/the-great-tuno-campaign/#comment-35533
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Tuna alternatives via a google search:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=vegetarian+tuna
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and try this (its not tuno but its a veg. tuna salad stuff) http://www.thevegetariansite.com/cgi-bin/miva?Merchant2/merchant.mv+Screen=PROD&Store_Code=S&Product_Code=Tuna+(Not!)&Category_Code=grocery
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I called kelloggs and they took a request to bring tuno back. Please call with your request,
Tiffany, I am not a vegetarion because I don’t like meat. I’m a vegetarion because I think it’s right. I love animals. I have been a strict vegetarian for 23 years now. I was raised on meat and potatoes and miss the texture more than anything. I hope this helps you to understand.
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Ahhhh!!!! Why buy a company if you only kill off their products
I liked Tuno and had been buying it online for over 2 years. It mysteriously disappeared from my usual source. WMC, thanks for doing the research. This page was the 3rd link when I googled “tuno”.
I see some people asking why vegetarians would eat a meat-like product. How about the two little reasons of ending world hunger and stopping global warming. There are 3 times the number of farm animals on the planet as there are people. Or if you want a more personal reason, I like tuna but I don’t want to eat PCBs. Check out this video narrated by Paul McCartney.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=0b2k98YLSnk
Thanks to everyone that left tips to possible replacements. I’ll check them out.
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I’ve sent an e-mail request and will begin calling, too. I just thought I was having a hard time finding my favorite veggie products (Tuno and the Fillets) lately. I had no idea they were discontinued! I’m so sick about this.
I agree that the chickpea recipes (at least those I’ve tried) are no match for Tuno. If any of you find another product or recipe that comes closer to Tuno, please let us all know.
Shame on Kellogg company!
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this is actually a pretty good substitute for tuno.
http://www.quorn.us//cmpage.aspx?pageid=462&productid=146
just break it apart by hand, add the usual ingredients and enjoy.
I do miss tuno still though!
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I just discovered the Quorn brand, and their stuff is indeed amazing. I love the spicy lime chicken nuggets.
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Here, here! I found your post as I too was searching the web for Tuno. How I miss Tuno. I also, for the life of me cannot understand why they would stop making such a fine mock-meat product. I used to buy it at the one local store that sold it. Then one day, years back, there was no more Tuno. No empty spot on the shelf to show where it would be either. I assumed, living in rural po-dunk, that the store just quite carrying it. I saved the label off of my last can so as to find more. It sat tucked away in my cabinet though, until my cats unearthed it the other day.
Thank you for providing me closure on my Tuno quest.
Have you called Kelloggs to protest?
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Tuno is only one of many vegetarian products Kellogg has changed or discontinued. Our family owned stock in the original Worthington Foods when it was sold, much to our disappointment!! After Worthington Foods sold out
it has gone south ever since.
Quorn is a fantastic protein that can be used in so many ways I’ve lost count. It is no substitute for Tuno; it just doesn’t taste the same.
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Quorn is, unfortunately, not vegan. If i remember right, it contains egg whites or something. I thought it tasted like tuna when i was still just a vegetarian though. Thanks to the person who posted the kellogg contact #. I suggest spreading it far and wide so people can call and bother them. If anyone can get internal extensions and contact names, I suggest sharing them too. Phone calls are generally way more effective than emails.
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Update to the contact info already provided:
the 800-557-6525 is specifically Worthington Linda Loma
alt #s:
Morningstar – 800-962-0120
Kellogg Headquaters: 800-962-1413/269-961-2000 or fax: 269-961-2871
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I’ve read good and bad things about Tuno. I liked it myself. The secret to making it work was to dump it out of the can into a colander and rinse off all the gelatinous “gravy” stuff. I’m not sure what that stuff was supposed to be, but it made the Tuno look like pet food. Anyway, once rinsed and drained, Tuno was a very acceptable substitute for tuna. I didn’t buy it often because I thought it was too expensive. So, given that at least one person who liked it didn’t buy it often, and many others thought it was repulsive, I can understand why it was discontinued.
I’ve read a lot of comments about substituting garbanzos, so I will try that. I can also state that crumbled tempeh made into a salad with vegenaise and whatever else you like in tuna salad is quite tasty.
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Thank you for the great post, and contact info. I have written, will continue to write and will be calling them.
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I went to a restaurant in Santa Cruz – Saturn Cafe – and had the greatest Tuno Melt sandwich. I don’t know how they got it, but it was amazing. I went to Whole Foods yesterday here in L.A., nothing. I called Kelloggs, it’s discontinued. Bastards.
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this is so sad and terrible! i’m having severe cravings for tuno. has anyone tried the mah way tuna substitute?
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I just happened upon this post, as I was trying to find the frozen Tuno — which always was way better than the canned. At the Adventist Book Center (that sells vegie food for 7th Day Adventists), I came across a frozen product by Cedar Lake called Vege-Tuna – and I snatched it up.
Am almost through with it, and wanted to get more, so went online to Cedar Lake’s website, only to find that the product is not listed (and so, probably not made). . . BUT, I believe that Cedar Lake is still an independent company, not owned by a conglomerate, and it may make more sense to lobby them to bring back vege-tuna than to try to move Kelloggs.
Their info is: Phone: 989.427.5143 Fax: 989.427.5392
CUSTOMER SERVICE: 800.246.5039
cedarlakemgm@nethawk.com
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Hi — I got in touch with the Cedar Lake folks and they replied that their Vege-Tuna is a new product for them, and it is available. They said that the ABC place was probably just out of stock. . . . sure enough, next time I went, they had it. It is great! – like the frozen tuno I used to buy, this is way better than the stuff that came in the can – no rinsing, draining, etc required.
so for all you Tuno fans out there — ask your local retailer to stock Cedar Lake’s Vege-Tuna.
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Hi – I did not realize there were so many people that were vegans and was looking for this product. Frozen Tuno Rolls were the best. I’ve had the can also and it was not that good, but the tuno roll was awesome, not for tuna salad but for putting in your gumbo to give it the fish taste, it was great. I really don’t understand why they would discontinue this product. With so many vegans today and people searching to eater better, I think it is a shame that we need to beg for food, not that you don’t pay for it because all the foods that are good for you you pay dearly for them. Everyone tells you that you need to eat healty but this is very discouraging when you look on the list especially those like Kelloggs, Worthington & Loma Linda because they are the ones that know about the Health Message as to how you should eat and their discontinuing list is larger than anyones. This is why a lot of people start out trying to be vegan and goes right back.
I sure hope someone would come up with the tuno roll that taste like the Worthington tuno roll. As for the tuna salad, I’ve found that at the ABC Bookstore in Atlanta and It really did not have a fish taste at all to me, I guess if I wanted it as a tuna salad, it might be ok, I don’t know. I don’t think that was discontinued because I just bought it about a month ago.
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i want my Tuno back!
I will order 100 cans Kellogs, if you’re listening!!
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Wow! Look how long we have all missed our Tuno! I am still experimenting, trying to replace it, after 3 years. This is one reason I am seriously contemplating a Raw Foods Diet. Of course marketing tactics could still interfere, even at that.
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I miss Tuno. I think I’ll try to find some Cedar Lake’s Vege-Tuna and try making a tuna melt. Tuno was great for tuna melt sandwiches. You had to drain the can tuno.
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Wow, I guess I’m not the only one. I have been having Tuno cravings in the worst way, and it made me feel a little better to see I’m not the only one. Mixed up with some chopped celery, red onion, and Nayonaise on an onion roll with a thick slice of tomato and crispy lettuce… it doesn’t get any better. (I had the same reaction to the discontinuation of the Eme’s marshmallows… sure, we got Sweet Sara’s but it’s about 75X more expensive than the Emes was.) Anyway, thanks for the Cedar Lake’s info — I’ll try that, and maybe experiment with all those veggie fish products from the Asian Market.
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??Addressing the oft read above comments about why we vegetarians do not abjure the taste of
real tuna when evaluating tuna substitute products such as “Tuno”, …. (moment of silence)….
as a former cannibal, it was my experience adjusting to a strictly vegetarian diet absent the
accustomed former ranges of flavors, I found chic peas and hominy, et al, to offer a relatively
peak-free cuisine. I don’t know… it just wasn’t the same, somehow. Please don’t mistake me, I
do not regret the perfectly sensible move, on balance… but …. I can perfectly register with the
above who have voiced their wan rapture recalling how perfectly transporting was the taste of
the real thing…… Tuno, I mean …… of course…
PJ
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Can’t you make a petition and get people to sign it and present it to Morningstar/Kellogg
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I thought I was the only one as well!!!! I MISS TUNO!!!
I will buy as many as needed to be bought so that is goes back on the shelf!
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my word, much like most of the people who have posted previous, I miss my tuno [ found this website googling tuno for new leads] chick peas with kelp powder just isn’t doing it.
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My kids -17 & 13 – have been raised as vegetarians. They miss tuno – so I’ve been searching for it. I would help with a petition to Kelloggs!! They also own Worthington and Loma Linda – They made great fake sandwich meat. We can’t find that anywhere either.
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Cedar Lake now makes Tuno in the frozen roll
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Well, I’ve had a can of Tuno in my fridge for…gulp…a few years….maybe 3….and finally took it out and (still unopened) have been meaning to call the number on the can to see if it’s still edible. Do any of you Tuno lovers out there know how long it keeps? After hearing all this praise for Tuno, I sure wish I’d eaten it sooner!
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