Canned food and vegetables

Study found that canned fruits and vegetables are nutritionally comparable with fresh and frozen, and in some cases even better.For example, canned tomatoes have more lycopene, which is associated with reducing cancer risk, and more B vitamins than fresh tomatoes. Canning also helps make fiber in certain vegetables, like beans, more soluble, and therefore more useful to the human body.

Salt is not added to canned foods as a preservative; the canning process preserves the food. Salt is primarily used to enhance flavor, and in some cases to maintain texture.

The canning process locks in nutrients at their peak of freshness, and due to the lack of oxygen during the storage period, canned fruits and vegetables remain stable up until the time they are consumed. This means they have a longer shelf-life, which helps reduce waste from spoilage. So the amount of vitamin B in a can of tomatoes is the same on the day it was canned as it is a year from the canning date.

A study demonstrated increased amounts of some key anthocyanins, a powerful antioxidant, in canned blueberries, compared to the amounts in fresh and frozen blueberries.

Canned tomatoes, carrots, spinach, corn and pumpkin are rich in antioxidants. One-half cup of canned tomatoes provides 11.8 milligrams of lycopene compared to just 3.7 milligrams found in one medium fresh, uncooked tomato.

Although processing can often lower the nutritional value of fruits and vegetables, the extent of nutrient degradation is highly variable and may be insignificant when compared with losses during storage and cooking of fresh produce.

Experts agree that eating more fruits and vegetables, whether canned, frozen, fresh or juiced, is an essential part of a healthy diet. Canned options should not be overlooked, given that canned foods are comparable to and in some cases better options nutritionally and economically.

Canned food and vegetables