Consumer

Good Question: Frozen Versus Fresh Produce?

(WCCO) It's the time of year for farmer's markets and fresh Minnesota produce, and when we asked people what was healthier, fresh or frozen, every person said the same thing: "Fresh."

"Frozen can be absolutely phenomenal," said Registered Dietitian Sue Moores, a St. Paul nutrition expert. "Frozen vegetables and frozen fruits are picked at prime ripeness, which means prime nutrition and then very quickly flash-frozen and packaged."

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has tested frozen produce to see if the flash-freezing process causes vitamin loss, and they ruled that frozen is "nutritionally equivalent to raw produce."

"It depends on the manufacturer," said Moores. "Some literally pull the product or pull the crop out of the field and on the field they are flash-freezing."

This is not to suggest that frozen is superior by a huge amount to fresh produce. But according to Moores, "Heat, light and air will affect some vitamins, not all."

For example, the American Food Institute found that fresh green beans left for three days in a grocery store and three days in a home refrigerator lost nearly two-thirds of their vitamin C, while frozen green beans had twice the amount of vitamin C compared with the fresh samples.

Moores suggests buying fresh fruit in season, because there's a higher likelihood that the fruit hasn't sat around for awhile.

"If you're buying a peach in the middle of March you're probably better off by far buying frozen peaches in the middle of March," she said.

Canned fruits and vegetables fall in the same category as frozen foods, except that canned items are often sitting a bath of water with sodium. Moores recommended washing that solution off the produce before preparing it.

And preparation is the main factor in how much of the nutritional content is lost. Overcooking can zap many of the vitamins out of the produce.

"Steaming and microwaving are the best way to cook, because nothing is leaching out," said Moores.

The bottom line, of course, is that both fresh and frozen produce are full of valuable nutrients. Moores recommended that people get eating.

 

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