Is there any nutritional value what-so-ever to canned fruits and vegetables?

[KidsHappen]

I never buy these items but I have already stocked up on sugar, flour, rice, pasta, beans, sauces and cheeses. We don't eat meat but we do eat lots of fruits and veggies. I don't can so I was trying to figure out how I would stock up on these items and it finally dawned on me that they come in cans at the store. Would there be any value to stocking these in case of emergency or would we be just as well to do without them?

[Kris]

Well -- I don't see why not. I definitely prefer fresh, but that's not always possible. I only go shopping once a week, and during the winter we're usually snowed in occasionally -- last year was a pretty bad year. I've always got a "stash" of canned goods in the cupboard in anticipation of the unexpected.

[PeterPan]

If you're wanting to stock up, what about frozen? We eat lots of frozen fruit. With blueberries, squeeze them in the bags to find the brands that have big, fat, juicy ones. Pineapple is convenient that way. You can freeze grapes when they are in season and extra cheap. We love frozen cherries. Frozen strawberries thaw quickly into fruit salad if you slice them. You can even scoop and freeze watermelon.

 

And no, we don't eat canned fruit, except for when we're sick and want applesauce. No point paying money for fresh, alive fruit and then killing the enzymes. If you freeze it, at least something survives. Do you have a deep freeze? It's amazing how nice they've gotten in the last few years. If you haven't looked, you might consider it. We got married 10 years ago, and a deep freeze was a deep freeze then. Now they come in stainless, extra rugged to survive a hot garage, with split doors and a lower ice maker. They're really amazing! The Whirlpool Sidekicks are really snazzy for the money, and there's a white version with the ice maker, I'm thinking also Whirlpool, that Lowe's sells.

 

Don't know why I'm off on that tangent anyway... Freeze your fruit, that's my two cents.

[Once]

In the case of tomatoes, the canned ones have more if they are in a condensed form. So, tomato paste is better than fresh tomatoes if you are considering lycopene. With canned goods you lose the vitamin C but there are other things that are retained.

 

If you want an item to store which will increase fresh ingredients into your diet you could try sprouts. Sprouting has many nutritional advantages. Mung beans are the easiest to do but may not be palitable.

 

HTH

[Aggie]

In my emergency stash, I make sure to have some vitamin-c rich fruits and juices. Canned fruits and veggies are just good to have on hand for emergencies, imo. :)

[gardening momma]

We use canned vegetables and fruit all the time. They do have nutritional value.

[Raders Fan]

Well, given the choice of "fresh" yellow-greenish rocks labeled "apricots" at 2.99/lb, or beautiful, luscious deep orange apricots (that I canned myself), I'll always take home-canned. I've always read that produce canned shortly after harvesting retains much of the same nutritional value as "fresh" produce sold in stores days to weeks later.

 

Below is the concluding paragraph of a UCDavis article.

 

Loss of nutrients during fresh

storage may be more substantial

than consumers realize, so

consumers should be educated

about proper storage. Fruits and

vegetables should be consumed

soon after harvest, or postharvest

handling conditions must be

controlled such that nutrient

degradation does not occur. A

good diet should include a variety

of fruits and vegetables, whether

they are fresh, frozen, canned,

dried, or otherwise preserved. The

Nutrition Facts label on processed

products accurately reflects the

nutritional content and should be

consulted by consumers interested

in healthy diets.

 

Here is the address to the full text (sorry, I don't know how to hyperlink it).

 

http://fruitvegquality.ucdavis.edu/publications/MaxFoodVegApril%202006.pdf

 

HTH,

Jennifer

[Kris]

If you're wanting to stock up, what about frozen?

 

Very good advice, but I wanted to add that freezers don't work when the power goes out. :D

 

I was pleasantly surprised to find recently that everything in my freezer was okay after the power was out for two days. Fortunately, we haven't had to do any experiments to find out just how long that would be the case. :)

[PeterPan]

Very good advice, but I wanted to add that freezers don't work when the power goes out. :D

 

 

They do if you have a generator. ;)

 

We lose our power a lot out here, much more than anyplace else I've ever lived. Most outages though are short, just a few hours, and the freezer holds fine for that.

 

The issue for me in canning the fruit is not the nutrients but the enzymes.

[Sherri in MI]

I have worried about this too. I have 4 veggie cans in front of me:

 

Wax Beans: Vitamin C 8%, Calcium 4%

 

Garden Peas: Vitamin A 20%; Vitamin C: 15%; Calcium 4%; Iron 8%

 

Collard Greens: Vitamin A 35% (wish I liked them! dh does); Vitamin C 15%; Calcium 2%

 

Diced Tomatoes: Vitamin A 15%; Vitamin C 15%; Calcium 4%; Iron 4%

 

I don't have a big freezer. What I decided was, the ideal is to buy locally or home grown produce and consume it asap after picking. We can do that during the summer. During the winter most produce in the store (not all), is very expensive and not very tasty. So I say, eat as much fresh as you can when you can, but during the winter eat canned. I'm no expert, but I think you can still be healthy that way.

 

Blessings,

Sherri

[Kris]

They do if you have a generator. ;)

 

We lose our power a lot out here, much more than anyplace else I've ever lived. Most outages though are short, just a few hours, and the freezer holds fine for that.

 

Yes, ours goes out quite a bit too, but it's usually not a big deal. Before this last one, the longest was eight hours -- which is why I thought, surely, it will be back on any minute! :lol:

 

Sweetie is telling me we need to get a generator now, but I'll be doing what I can to talk him out of that. :D

[fivetails]

We eat canned veggies & fruit a lot - especially in the winter. I swear, my dd11 would LIVE off canned peas if I let her. :tongue_smilie:

 

(well - canned peas, peas & carrots, green beans ... those are the main canned ones that we buy. Especially peas. Canned carrots or canned potatoes are GROSS. Fruit cocktail is good, as long as there are LOTS of cherries. :D )

[MomOfOneFunOne]

I'll try to address the question as you asked if I'm reading you right. The question isn't about which fruits/veggies are optimal under optimal conditions but if, considering that optimal conditions just blew away, washed out to sea, got laid off, or were disconnected, canned fruits/veggies would be at least better than nothing. I say yes. With the exception of mandarine orange slices, I don't eat canned fruit or veggies but I've read the lables. They aren't utterly devoid of nutrients and if I were preparing a stash (remember that movie with brandon frasier and christopher walken?) I'd keep plenty of canned fruits and veggies. I'd keep other stuff, too, of course. I think canned f/v are much better than absolutely no f/v.

[Jenny in Florida]

Based on everything I've read, I'd say that:

 

Fresh is better than frozen.

Frozen is better than canned.

Canned is better than nothing.

 

So, in an ideal world, we'd all eat nothing but fresh fruits and veggies all the time. However, that's neither practical nor affordable for most of us. The only canned items I routinely keep around for everyday consumption are tomatoes (for cooking) and applesauce (mostly for taking on the road).

 

When it comes to my emergency stash, though, I do lay in canned stuff, because in a true emergency, I'd rather have that than nothing.

 

For what it's worth, I do think the nutritional content of canned items has gotten better over the years. Mostly, I prefer the flavor and texture of fresh or frozen.

[HRAAB]

We tend to eat what is in season. During the summer everything is fresh from our garden. During the winter we eat what I've preserved. The only things I buy are spinach, broccoli, lettuce, and cabbage (after mine is used up). I've often wondered after those vegetables come out of the pressure canner, if there is anything worthwhile left in them. But they taste good, they are organic. I certainly hope they have some nutritional value left.

 

Janet

[Rosie_0801]

Some lose most of their nutritional value when canned, others don't. The difference between tinned and fresh peaches is almost nil.

:)

Rosie

[elegantlion]

We do canned fruit and veggies. I make sure to buy the ones that are packaged in their own juice, no heavy syrup. I also buy the natural applesauce.

 

Don't forget the manual can opener either. :D

[mcconnellboys]

We do, too! There are also more options now for low sodium, canned in their own juice, organic options, too!

[Meljoy]

Of course fresh is better- but I do stock canned for emergency situations.

I also like dried fruit better than canned.

 

As far as the vitamin content and enzymes why not just stock a couple of bottles of multivitamin and plant enzymes with the cans. With all these bank closings you never know if the time might come that something (anything) to chew and swallow will be a blessing.

 

Actually, even on a normal day, very little food has enzymes anyway unless it is raw organic. I personally take enzymes with every meal.