--- description: Trader Joe's tuna is now allegedly considered illegal to sell. title: Lawsuit Accuses Trader Joe's of Underfilling Tuna Cans image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Business](/section/business/) ## Business Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Companies](/tag/companies/) ## Companies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Lawsuit Accuses Trader Joe's of Underfilling Tuna Cans ## Video: Should I Eat Canned Tuna? [Watch (HLS stream): Should I Eat Canned Tuna?](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/KNXhPqjc.m3u8) (1:30)  _Published 2015-03-25. It’s not the sexiest fish in the sea. But tuna—even once it’s caught, frozen, thawed, cooked, chopped and canned—still gets a nod of approval from most of our experts._ by [Katie Little / NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## Katie Little / NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 7, 2016 4:26 PM CUT by [Katie Little / NBC News](/author/nbc-news/) ## Katie Little / NBC News Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Jan 7, 2016 4:26 PM CUT The suit claims Trader Joe’s underfilled 5-ounce cans of its store-brand tuna and violated the federally mandated minimum standard fill of 3.23 ounces for these cans. The purported class action was filed Tuesday against the company and a subsidiary in Manhattan federal court. Tests by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showed the cans contained an average of only about 2.43 ounces to 2.87 ounces of tuna, depending on the tuna version, according to the suit. Because the tuna cans are substantially underweight, the suit alleges the cans are “illegal for sale in the United States.” In a statement, Trader Joe’s spokeswoman… [_Read the rest of the story from our partners at NBC News_](http://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/say-it-ain-t-so-trader-joe-s-accused-underfilling-n492046?cid=par-time%5F20160107 "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4171075/trader-joes-tuna-lawsuit/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4171075/trader-joes-tuna-lawsuit/"},"headline":"Lawsuit Accuses Trader Joe's of Underfilling Tuna Cans","datePublished":"2016-01-07T16:26:04.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T13:52:19.115Z","description":"The suit claims the cans are illegal to sell in the U.S.","url":"https://time.com/4171075/trader-joes-tuna-lawsuit/","keywords":["Companies","Retail","Lawsuit","Trader Joe's","Tuna"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Little / NBC News"}],"articleSection":"Business","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/business/","name":"Business"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/companies/","name":"Companies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4171075/trader-joes-tuna-lawsuit/","name":"Lawsuit Accuses Trader Joe's of Underfilling Tuna Cans"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Should I Eat Canned Tuna?","description":"It’s not the sexiest fish in the sea. But tuna—even once it’s caught, frozen, thawed, cooked, chopped and canned—still gets a nod of approval from most of our experts.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/KNXhPqjc/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-03-25T22:08:56.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/KNXhPqjc.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4171075/trader-joes-tuna-lawsuit/","duration":"PT1M30S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4171075/trader-joes-tuna-lawsuit/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```