05.01.07
A new study from the University of California, Davis (UC Davis), published in the online version of the Journal of Science of Food and Agriculture, confirms that canned, fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables provide nutrients needed for a healthy diet, and exclusively consuming fresh fruits and vegetables ignores the nutritional benefits provided by canned products. To attain a full balance of nutrients, findings from this research show that canned foods can be an im-portant part of the mix when it comes to getting more nutrients, variety and taste satisfaction. Research also shows how much a fruit and vegetable can contribute nutritionally to a diet depends on its processing method. In addition, canned, fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables can all lose nutrients during processing and storage as a result of exposure to heat and air. In some cases, there appears to be a higher nutrient content in canned foods, such as increased carotenoids in canned vegetables—due to the heat in the canning process. The study, funded by the Canned Food Alliance, reviewed recent published research on the nutritional comparisons of canned, fresh and frozen fruits and vegetables.