Study touts frozen veggies-can have more nutrients than fresh vegetables

[The Straight Story]

Study touts frozen veggies

LONDON, March 5 (UPI) -- Frozen vegetables can have more nutrients than fresh vegetables if they are frozen soon after being picked, British scientists say.

Researchers at the Institute of Food Research found that up to 45 per cent of important nutrients are lost during the time it takes fresh produce to reach a consumer's dinner table, Britain's Daily Telegraph reported Friday.

The produce research was carried out on behalf of the frozen-food manufacturer Birds Eye, the institute said.

"The nutritional content of fresh vegetables begins to deteriorate from the minute they are picked," said Dr. Sarah Schenker, a nutritionist.

http://www.upi.com/Health_News/2010/03/05/Study-touts-frozen-veggies/UPI-30011267793501/

[GodlessBiker]

1. Paid for by Birds Eye. Oh, Moses smell the roses.

[hlthe2b]

2. I think this is true... unfortunately, what about the plasitc packaging?

Especially with the trend towards "steam in bag" designs. All that off-gassing of plastic may not be so good...:shrug: (although I am told that the plastic they use contains no BPA, it certainly can contain other less than safe components).

[belpejic]

3. Any veggies are better than no veggies.

But fresh is obviously best.

I hate to think what happens to my frozen veggies between harvest, freezing and packaging. But I'll still eat them. Thank God for Tabasco.

[Gormy Cuss]

4. The thing of it is, some "fresh" produce is pretty old.

Note that the finding is conditional on being processed right after picking. Comparing old unprocessed produce to that frozen quickly after harvest is probably stacking the deck because there is no way for a consumer to know how long the now frozen stuff languished in a cold room before processing.

As you said though, any veggies are better than none.

[wryter2000]

5. My feeling exactly

Take a look at the "fresh" green beans or zucchini in the store. Inedible. Unless you grow your own or buy at a farmer's market, frozen is often better for many vegetables.

Don't even get me started on fruit. :mad:

[LuvNewcastle]

12. I use bananas, milk, and frozen fruit

to make smoothies. While it isn't as good as fresh fruit, it still tastes mighty good.

[GoCubsGo]

8. How long have those "fresh" veggies been sitting on the grocer's shelf?

How long have they been sitting in some packing house? Or, in trucks/trains/boats/air planes during shipping? Unless you buy it from a farmers market, or grow your own, there is no guarantee that your produce is fresh. It could be a month old for all you know. And, the longer your "fresh" produce sits around, the more the nutrients break down. At least with frozen produce, more of the nutrients are still there. It's especially true this time of year, when most of our fresh produce is imported from Central and South America.

[Statistical]

6. Makes sense. Nothing is static. Organic compounds break down.

Eating a vegetable directly on the farm you just picked equal 100% of potential nutrients.

Longer the time between picking (vegetable begins to die) and eating the more that is lost.
If freezing stops/reduces that degradation then it may contain more than degraded "fresh" vegetables.

Of course growing it yourself and eating it ripe is the best of both worlds.

[elocs]

7. I'm glad to hear it because in winter most of my veggies & fruit is frozen.

Most fresh is simply too expensive in winter and with just me I cannot eat the fresh quick enough before it goes bad.

I think it is intuitive to believe that vegetables that are frozen not long after they are picked would retain more nutrients than those picked and then trucked across the country. Then they sit around in the stores until they are sold. I don't see how that makes them more nutritious.

As far as plastic goes, I was just grocery shopping at the supermarket and all the people there put their fresh produce into plastic bags.

[TexasProgresive]

9. There are no "fresh" fruits and vegetables except for what

comes out of your garden or orchard - or your neighbors.

[FedUpWithIt All]

10. A lot of produce sold as fresh was force ripened in trucks on the way to market.

It is picked too early and gassed with ethylene in the trucks to produce a ripe looking vegetable by the time it reaches the stores. This also goes a long way to explain why store bought veggies which are barely ripe will spoil in a much shorter time than a similarly aged veg off the vine.

The best choice, of course, is home grown and picked right before use but i would suggest that the claims in the OP are probably correct regarding frozen vrs fresh (store bought). The more stress, time and variable conditions the unfrozen food is exposed to the lesser quality of the end product.

[JCMach1]

11. Seems that Veg is Veg... so that's probably a good thing.

[Raschel]

13. I buy frozen fruit and veggies. They can't have added ingredients to be flash frozen though.