​Fresh versus Frozen or Tinned Vegetables

What is fresh these days anyway?

Did you know that 91%* of Australians buy their “Fresh” Fruit & Vegetables from major Supermarket chains with Coles or Woolworths enjoying 66% market share between them.

However, according to the industry group “Apple & Pear Australia”, most apples are harvested between February and April in Australia. This means, then, that the ‘fresh’ apples you just purchased at Woolworths in December could have been in storage for almost a year!

Other commonly stored items include pears, grapes, bananas, oranges, mandarins, potatoes, carrots, onions and pumpkin.

It’s true that preparing your vegetables fresh from the market is definitely going to give you a greater appreciation for and connection to your food. You just can’t get the same appreciation from opening a packet…right!.

So before I go on – let me just say that we would never advocate giving up fresh vegetables for frozen or tinned however at the same time, it’s important to understand the current scientific understanding of the true difference nutritionally between fresh and frozen or tinned vegetables.

In a report published in 2017 in the “Journal of Food Composition and Analysis” which is a peer reviewed publication on the chemical composition of human foods, with particular emphasis on actual data on the composition of foods; analytical methods; studies on the manipulation, storage, distribution and use of food composition.

This report found there to be no significant difference between vitamin C, β-carotene and folate found in fresh, fresh-stored and frozen vegetables. Furthermore, the study consistently found that five days of refrigerated storage has a negative impact on nutrient concentration. Important information if you are one of the 91% buying your “fresh” vegetables from the supermarket.

The nutrient retention of vegetables has many additional variables beyond whether they were bought fresh, frozen or canned however to put things in perspective, nutrient losses do not equate to canned or frozen vegetables being completely devoid of nutrients; in fact, in the case of frozen vegetables they have been found to be just as nutritious, or in some cases, even more nutritious than fresh.

*Source: Choice survey of a nationally representative sample of 1000 grocery shoppers

Important Note: Padstow Food Service sells only Egdell and Birds Eye brand frozen vegetables from Simplot Australia – one of very few Australian manufacturers of Australian grown frozen vegetables left!

We also sell a range of fresh prepared vegetables and salads.