High Tech Tuna at SXSW Food Tech Event

Austin, Texas’ SXSW is like San Diego's annual comic con. But instead of focusing on the latest in comic books, and action figures, SXSW is a gathering of exciting new film, music and technology, as well as food. Food technology changes the way we eat our everyday meals, and here's something very interesting that we spotted at the event. 

Safe Catch
Pregnant women are often advised by doctors to stay away from fish. That's because fish contains mercury, which is a neurotoxin that could have very damaging effects to unborn babies. 

Safe Catch is a company that hopes to change all that. Its tuna has been marketed at SXSW as an extremely mercury-free product, which was inspired by the fact that pregnant women can't enjoy eating fish for the duration of their pregnancy. 

Safe Catch developed a machine that could work in real time and allow for tuna to be produced virtually free from mercury. The machine takes a small tissue sample and in real time tells the company the exact mercury concentrations. The fish is then tested and only canned if it reaches approval. 

The cooking process of Safe Catch’s tuna seems natural, too. After the tuna is cut, the meat is put into BPA-free cans and are then sealed and cooked with the fish in their natural oils. 

The new technology has been verified by the California Attorney General's office in partnership with the FDA, and is sensitive to one part per billion. As a result, the canned tuna by Safe Catch has 10 times less mercury than the standards benchmarked by the FDA. 

As aforementioned the SXSW event was held in Austin, Texas this year but there are talks about holding the event at Las Vegas the next time around. The Austin venue was huge and accommodating but perhaps space in Las Vegas would mean a bigger venue, and attract a larger crowd from all over the world. 

Las Vegas is slowly becoming a melting pot of different events and venues, and that’s because it wants to drive more revenue into the city. Sin City needed to have more offerings in order to offset the declining revenues of its casino industry no part due to online gaming providers that not only provide wireless gaming but also exclusive titles that are only available for online players such as Cashtro's Voyage. So that the city didn’t get left behind other gaming meccas like Macau, Las Vegas wants major events to be held within the city, and that includes SXSW, which attracts tens of thousands of visitors every year. 

Catch all the food technology highlights of the event by visiting the official SXSW page.