Do you know which fresh, frozen, or canned vegetables have the most nutrients?
Most people might tend to say fresh.
But did you know that there is little difference in nutritional value between fresh, frozen and canned foods?
That’s according to our resident fruit geek, Thanh Truong.
Thanh is a proponent of fresh food. Mainly because he says it has the best texture.
“It’s going to be firm and crispy,” he says.
But it’s not always important – like when cooking vegetables into a stew.
“Especially if you cook fruits and vegetables before eating them, you’ll get as much nutritional value as possible from each of these ingredients,” says Thanh.
why is that?
For example, there is a similar loss of nutrients between the canning process and the cooking of fresh vegetables, says Mara Gamage of CSIRO’s Food Innovation Center.
“Carbohydrates, proteins, fats and fiber are not affected or reduced by the canning process, but vitamins [do],” she says.
“Vitamins B and C are susceptible to heat-related losses.”
But when comparing canned and fresh products, she says you need to take into account that some fruits and vegetables need to be heated before eating.
“So similar losses can occur during the normal cooking process,” says Dr. Gamage.
For frozen foods, products are “flash frozen” (aka very flash frozen) when they are thawed, so they are in the same or very similar condition as they were before freezing, says Thanh.
“retrograde” process
Thanh also talks about what the industry calls ‘backwards’ when it comes to agricultural supplies.
It’s not as easy as picking something up from a tree and carrying it to your front door. Fruits and vegetables can take weeks to reach consumers, so they are often harvested earlier than optimal.
“[For example]Here are some tomatoes that were harvested yesterday, but they were harvested at a little more green stage,” Thanh said.
“It gives us time to market the fruit here.
“When you buy it, it’s a little more colored, and it may last a few more days before you cook it.”
Eating tomatoes “at the wrong stage,” he says, might not give you the best dining experience compared to tomatoes that are canned at their best, like a little too early.
And while some fruits and vegetables contain a lot of nutrients, you can’t really access all of them when you eat them raw, Thanh said.
“Some fruits and vegetables actually need to be cooked to access all the nutrients,” he says.
Thanh shopping tips
Because of the differences in price, availability, and shelf life between fresh, frozen, and canned foods, Thanh shares some tips based on how he feeds his family.
tomato
Canned tomatoes are easy, he says.
“If you eat a salad, of course, get it fresh, because you want texture and vibrancy,” says Tine.
“But if you put it in pasta, canned tomatoes are good.”
He says that not only are they cheaper, but they are also picked at a more ripe stage.
pineapple
Thanh also loves canned pineapple.
“[They are a] Pineapple is a very good option as it is often very fibrous. There is a lot of string in it, so it doesn’t crumble as much when canned.
“That’s why it doesn’t get muddy.”
For example, you can get that texture even if you plan to cut it up to add to pizza or granola, he says.
“And most of the time, you don’t need a whole pineapple in your diet,” he says.
berry
According to Thanh, if you plan to bake or cook berries anyway, frozen berries are the way to go.
“My kids actually eat frozen berries with their cereal every morning.”
Frozen berries, he says, are harvested at the optimum time, so they may be better than fresh ones.
Fresh strawberries are picked “upside down” and may be slightly white or green.
ABC Everyday in your inbox
Receive the best ABC Everyday newsletter every week
.
