25 November, 2008

Fishy Delights 19: Sunny Sea Sardines in Tomato Sauce

Sunny Sea sardines are yet another in a long line of substandard tinned fish products I inexplicably continue to purchase at job lot stores.

We can start with the can. I just don't understand why companies stopped putting "keys" on sardine tins so they can open easily. Pull tabs are messy, and standard square cans have these small-radius rounded corners that can openers just aren't able to navigate well. It's messy and frustrating.

The fish inside are thick-bodied but short; the ends of the sardines don't come anywhere near the ends of the can, and there are only four of them, swimming in a salty but otherwise very bland tomato sauce. Oh well, I've had big sardines before and the size isn't necessarily an indicator of quality, so I was still willing to give them a fair try.

But then I popped a piece into my mouth and that was STRIKE THREE. The goddamn company left the scales on the fish. I don't have words for how much I hate that.

Sunny Sea sardines are little better than dog food.

Link:
Golden Beach, Inc. is the company responsible for this crap. Click here to go to their website, where you can see photos of other products of theirs you can avoid.

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi,

I'm sorry the you didn't like the sunny sea sardines; however, I have discovered that is the only brand my cat liked and I can't find it anywhere and the link you gave didn't work.

My cat, Schooch has hyperthyroid and constipation which has gotten worse in last weeks so it is mandatory that I get a handle on this as can't deal with these crisis nor afford repeat vet visits. Can you help me? I saved the label but can't find this brand that is only one I remember said "wild caught" and I think it is from Thailand. Personally I love and even crave Sardines so I will go back and am interested in your recommendation for humans and I just randomly buy them...there was a really great one with a tomato sauce from a Euro store but it was very expensive. It's a small store around the corner so I will try to get the name and tell you as I remember that was one of the most delicious.

However, re Schooch, after trying & him refusing tons of varieties of wet food, Saturday he ate some organic chicken and vegetable pate type from PetGuard and maybe he will also like a fish version of that which is a complete meal. I am so thrilled he ate it twice out of my hand as he is 11 and such a picky eater...only liked Wysong and Halo cereal and raw liver.

Soft food has to become his primary food source but I still want to find where I can buy the Sunny Sea for a treat and so far, can't find it at any store I normally shop in. Can you help?

Unknown said...

Dave, I think I found the name of the distributor...Golden whatever and I have e-mailed and left message so hopefully I will find out where to buy the Sunny Sea that apparently not the best taste but for some reason my cat liked it and that's what I'm looking for at the moment. Will get back to you about the Sardines from that speciality European store....Marcella

Dave said...

The contact info for Golden Beach is:

Golden Beach Inc.
2510 W. 237th Street
Torrance, CA 90505, USA
Tel: 310-530-3210
Fax: 310-530-8601
Email: info@goldenbeachinc.net

Hope this helps Schooch. Good luck!

Anonymous said...

Thanks for posting this! I saw a 50 pack on Amazon and was wondering about the quality. I will stay away!

theonlydjtopcat said...

Um the package clearly says "Product of China" lol
These are not King Oscar top shelf sardines.
I think that you should probably avoid any seafood from China if possible.