Are Fresh Foods Compared to Frozen or Canned Foods Better?

Are Fresh Foods Compared to Frozen or Canned Foods Better?
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Shopping for Food

When you go food shopping, you have choices to make in the grocery store to ensure proper nutrition. Are fresh foods best? Are canned foods okay? How do frozen foods compare? You may be surprised of some answers.

Fresh Foods Compared to Frozen or Canned

Fresh Foods

Many may think that fresh foods compared to frozen or canned foods, are a healthier choice. Actually, this is not always true.

Fruits and vegetables fresh from the garden are highest in nutrients. However, they can quickly lose nutritional value over time. Fresh produce in your grocery store may already be a couple of weeks old, depending on travel time and the length of time in the store (and let’s not forget about the time it spends in the home before eaten).

According to one study performed in the late 1990s, about 75% of vitamin C in vegetables like spinach is lost after being refrigerated for a week. Christine M. Bruhn, PhD (director of the Center for Consumer Research, University of California) suggests frozen or canned versions may be more nutritious than fresh when stored for many days.

Another fact regarding fresh foods that may surprise you is some canned fish products may be higher in calcium than fresh fish because small bones (which are high in calcium) are included (soft enough to be consumed).

Frozen Foods

Overall, freezing is an excellent way to preserve nutrients. The freezing process itself does not destroy nutrients, but losses may occur during the steps taken in preparation for freezing, such as washing, trimming, or grinding. Vitamin C losses are especially likely because they occur whenever tissues are broken and exposed to air (oxygen destroys vitamin C).

It is important that you keep your freezer’s temperature colder than 32° F (0° C). Foods may seem frozen at a temperature above this, but much of it is actually unfrozen, and changes can occur (for example, vitamin C can be completely lost in a couple of months).

Typically, frozen foods should be consumed within 6 months.

Canned Foods

Canning is one of the better methods for preserving foods against microorganisms (bacteria, yeasts, and fungi). Rarely are food-related illnesses caused by commercially canned products.

As with frozen foods, nutrients are quickly sealed in before they are lost. Some loss of vitamin C occurs during the heating process, but much of it dissolves in the liquid (which you can use in soups or sauces instead of discarding). Most other nutrients are not affected by the canning process.

When shopping for canned foods, read labels closely. Some are high in salt and syrups. The shelf life of canned foods is about 2 years or longer.

Something to Consider

It is important to consider how you prepare certain foods at home. For example, vegetables (whether fresh, frozen, or canned) can lose much of their nutritional content when boiled compared to being lightly steamed.

Sources Used

Study Findings: Comparison of Selected Fresh, Canned and Frozen Fruits, Vegetables, Legumes and Protein Foods - https://nutrican.fshn.uiuc.edu/findings.html

Photo Credit

Image in the public domain.