Pret a Manger bans bluefin tuna from its menu
End of the line for the Pret tuna sarnie
8 June 2009
FOOD stores are today under pressure to follow the lead of a high-street sandwich chain and ban the sale of endangered bluefin tuna.
Pret a Manger announced it was removing tuna and cucumber sandwiches from its 155 outlets, after its founder watched The End of the Line, a film about dying fish stocks, which is released today.
Julian Metcalfe wrote to the film’s producers after a private screening of the film: “We no longer sell the tuna and cucumber sandwich. No tuna in the box at all... so more in the sea, where they belong.”
Pret will continue to sell skipjack tuna in its baguettes, but will use only line-caught “dolphin-friendly” fish.
"We no longer sell the tuna and cucumber sandwich. No tuna in the box at all... so more in the sea, where they belong"
In 2007, there were 61,000 tonnes of bluefin tuna caught worldwide. The population of the species has fallen 90 per cent in 30 years, and scientists say it may be extinct in three.
Other high-street shops were today urged to stop selling endangered tuna. All the major supermarkets said they had banned bluefin from their fresh-fish counters.
Tesco said it sells “some” fresh yellowfin and that its canned tuna is skipjack.
Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons say their fresh fish is “sustainable”. Waitrose and Marks & Spencer have said they no longer sell bluefin tuna, skate or swordfish.
Celebrity chefs including Gordon Ramsay and Jamie Oliver have banned bluefin from their restaurants, but upmarket Nobu in Mayfair still stocks it, while advising diners not to order it.
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