A second type of change which can be made is to pack the 

 tuna with some other food ingredient such as noodles to provide the 

 housewife with a prepared recipe which needs only to be heated 

 and served. The tuna packing industry is divided in its opinion 

 about the future possibilities of marketing any substantial 

 quantity of such a product o One opinion, shared by quite a number 

 of members of the industry, is that tuna as now packed is a very 

 versatile product which lends itself easily to preparation in a 

 wide variety of recipes and that each housewife has her own 

 favorite recipes for combining tuna with other foods. It is felt 

 that it is better for the industry to provide the standard pack 

 of tuna which can be used in numerous ways rather than to attempt 

 to provide ramerous specially prepared txma recipes or to try to 

 force the housewife into using one or two standard tuna mixtures 

 ready for use from the can<, According to this viewpoint, the 

 consumer can purchase and have on hand a small supply of canned 

 tuna which can be used as occasion demands for a wide variety of 

 dishes o This viewpoint seems to be shared by a majority of those 

 engaged in the industry. 



Another opinion was expressed by a few of the packers. This 

 opinion was based on the belief that mary consumers are not familiar 

 with the possibility of preparing a low-cost main course dish from 

 canned tuna, and that such persons may look on tuna as a high-cost 

 luxury itemo It was contended by these packers that if a quality 

 product such as tuna and noodles was available, ready to heat and 

 serve when it came from the can, many consumers who now looked on 

 tuna as a luxury food would be potential buyers of such a product. 

 These several packers expressed the belief that if such a product 

 could be developed and produced in an efficient manner it might 

 become an item which could be produced in considerable volume and 

 would materially boost the consumption of tuna. 



Mixtures of tuna with other foods have been on the market for 

 many years. Packs of tuna and noodles have been marketed by a 

 number of concerns. Other such products include "jellied tiina" 

 (for use in salads) and tuna with string beans. When such products 

 have been put up in the past they have been produced by extremely 

 small producers or as a specialty item without the use of high- 

 speed cannery equipment. This has resulted in excessive production 

 costs and has restricted the sale of these products to a very small 

 volume through delicatessen or other special channels. 



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