Fresh or Frozen: What's the healthier option?

By Anita Naik

Fresh is best, there's no doubt about that, but just how fresh is the fruit and veg in our supermarkets? Anita Naik, author of the Lazy Girl's Guide series, reveals why a freezer is a girl's best friend when it comes to ensuring you're eating enough fruit and vegetables

If you're keen to hit your five-a-day target you're probably one of the many who spend on average around £15 - £20 a week on fresh vegetables and fruit hoping to up your nutrient intake and reap the health benefits of eating well.

Yet, are you also one of the 50 per cent who regularly finds mouldy vegetables and rotting fruit lurking in the fridge? If so, it's bad news for your health as research also shows that only 15 per cent of British women meet the recommended daily fruit and veg target. If you're guilty of binning more than you eat here are a few food secrets to keep in mind next time you do the weekly shop.

Secret one: All veg counts
We should all be eating at least five portions of fruit or veg a day and it isn't just fresh veg that you have to eat. Frozen, canned and fresh produce all count in the nutritional stakes. But remember potatoes don't count because they are a starchy food.

Secret two - Fresh isn't always best
Eighty per cent of us may believe that fresh fruit and vegetables are healthier than frozen, but this isn't always the case if you are buying your goods from the supermarket. 'Fresh' produce loses vital nutrients and vitamins as soon as it's harvested and it can then take nearly two weeks to arrive on supermarket shelves. So by the time you buy it and eat it, the nutrient value of your fruit and vegetables may well have been lost.

According to the International Food Information Council, frozen and canned produce is virtually identical in terms of nutrition to freshly harvested fresh produce. In fact, in the case of frozen it's sometimes better, for example frozen peas contain 34 per cent more Vitamin C than their fresh counterparts.

Secret three: Five-a-day needn't be expensive
That's if you shop smartly. Help yourself by:

Buying fresh fruit and vegetables that are in season. Not only are they cheaper but they are also more likely to be locally produced, meaning they were harvested nearer to you (therefore taking less time to get on the shelves and being more eco friendly) and will be higher in nutrients

Buy all out-of-season produce from the frozen department, this ensures you not only keep a good selection of fruit and vegetables in your diet, but you also reap the right nutritional benefits

Secret four: Pre-packaged 'chilled' vegetables aren't nutrient rich
Chopped and prepared 'chilled' bags of mixed vegetables aren't as healthy as you may think, as most have lost their nutritional value due to the length of time it has taken to prepare and package them. If you buy them when they're close their sell-by-date, they're likely to be even lower in nutritional value. If you're looking for variety and vitamins opt for a frozen bag of mixed vegetables instead.

Secret five: Fruit and veg can be frozen for 12 months
Freezing fruits and vegetables for longer than recommended will decrease its quality. Recommended freezing times are:

Fruits - most frozen fruits maintain high quality for 8 to 12 months. Unsweetened fruits lose quality faster than fruits packed in sugar or sugar syrups.

Vegetables - most vegetables will maintain high quality for 12 to 24 months.

Statistics provided by Birdseye

Person with more brains, (not verified) replied 15 weeks 4 hours ago

You obviously misunderstood what the point was. The fruits and vegetables don't magically gain nutrients when frozen or canned but it PRESERVES the nutrients that are naturally there as opposed to fresh fruits/veg losing nutrients. When she says fresh she means going into your backyard and picking from your own garden, now that is fresh, sitting on a shelf in the supermarket is not 'fresh'. I would explain it more detail to you but if you cannot grasp what Anita was saying in her article then I would lose you before I got the first sentence out. For example, unless you grow your own broccoli then it is always better frozen since it is high in anti-oxidants the freezing preserves them where as so called 'fresh' broccoli in the store will have lost many of them via oxidation while travelling and sitting on the shelf. Sincerely, Director of Science and Nutrition

person with brains (not verified) replied 28 weeks 3 days ago

Let me enlighten those who read this kind of fantasy nutritional info and are taken in by it. First of all, this article contradicts itself continuously. In fact it starts out by saying that there's no doubt that fresh is better, and then continues on to try to say that processed is as good if not better than fresh in some cases. Just let me say it is literally impossible for produce to gain vitamin C content simply by being frozen or otherwise processed unless the vitamin C is ADDED. Furthermore, produce cannot possibly contain the same amount of nutritional value after sitting in a freezer or can as when it is fresh. I believe it was stated here that produce "loses vital nutrients as soon as it's harvested", not to mention time from the picker to the processer. And then somehow the produce magically on it's own gains nutritional value after the can is sealed? Or maybe I need to trade in my current freezer for one of those new amazing nutritional content adding freezers! Finally! I've been waiting forever for someone to invent those things! To Anita Naik, thank you for insulting our intelligence with more cliche and fake nutritional news media bologna. (Which by the way contains 20 percent more B.S when canned)