According to experts, frozen fruit and vegetables retain most of their vitamins and minerals. That is why it is worth eating frozen food - they are he althy, valuable, always at hand! And we can enjoy them at any time of the year. Just reach into the fridge.

Store freezers are full of frozenvegetablesandfruitand dishes prepared on their basis. Sometimes, however, we have doubts as to whether they are really worthy of attention. It turns out that it is. According to nutrition experts,frozen foodsfrozen within hours of harvesting retain a high content of nutrients, including vitamins and minerals. Therefore, they are particularly recommendable, especially when we care about a valuable and varied diet. If properly stored and defrosted, frozen vegetables and fruits reveal their advantages especially in winter and spring. Then they can retain even more nutritional value than fresh ones available on store shelves. If you are very busy, study a lot, work a lot, have little time, and want to eat he althy food, frozen food is invaluable. Due to the fact that they are clean and devoid of all unnecessary elements, they shorten the time of preparing a meal and are relatively cheap. The minerals they contain take part, among others, in in regulating circulation. They are also a building material for bones and tissues, they are part of insulin and hemoglobin responsible for oxygen transport.

Facts and myths about frozen foods

Myth 1

Frozen vegetables and fruits have less nutritional value than fresh ingredients.

Fact

Properly frozen, stored and thawed, they have a nutritional value comparable to that of fresh ingredients. In late winter and spring, they can even surpass fresh food in this respect.

Myth 2

Vitamin and mineral supplements can replace fruit and vegetables in the winter-spring period.

Fact

Frozen foods provide many necessary ingredients. Some of them cannot be found in supplements available in the form of vitamin and mineral preparations.

Myth 3

Freezing causes vegetables and fruit to lose valuable vitamins and minerals.

Fact

Freezing only slightly changes their nutritional value. Blanching, that is, burning fruit and vegetables before freezing, causes although a loss of vitamin C content (15 to 20%), regardless of these losses, vegetables and fruits frozen immediately after harvesting retain high nutritional value, comparable to their fresh counterparts. It should be borne in mind that harvesting vegetables and fruits, their sorting, transport and delivery to the store usually takes several days, and during this time there is also a loss of vitamin C, estimated at 15% per day (source IŻiŻ).

Important

Poles consume five times less frozen vegetables and fruit than residents of other European Union countries. According to experts, this is primarily the result of little knowledge about frozen foods, as well as many myths that linger in our society.
Research carried out in February 2007 shows that 12% of our society are people who declare that that in the last year they used frozen vegetables or fruit more often than in previous years. On the other hand, half of the population (52%) stick to their previous habits and use frozen food just as often as before. Among people who declare changes, every third Pole (34%) claims that using frozen vegetables and fruit, you can prepare dishes that are as tasty as those made from fresh products. Same as last year, 38% of respondents believe that freezing is a process that does not reduce the nutritional value of vegetables and fruits.

Advantages of frozen foods

  • Freshness and nutritional value. Frozen food is produced within a few hours from the moment the fruit and vegetables are harvested. This is why they are rich in nutrients, vitamins and trace elements, and do not contain preservatives.
  • Price. When preparing the product for freezing, all unnecessary elements are removed, so the consumer only pays for valuable fruit and vegetables. In the case of fresh vegetables and fruits, up to 40% of their weight is lost during peeling and cleaning. What's more, the prices of frozen foods are stable and do not depend on the season.
  • Convenience. The frozen food sold in stores has already been peeled, washed and divided into portions. This is why when using frozen vegetables and fruits, the time to prepare a meal is reduced by 40-80%.
  • Availability. Frozen food is available all year round, i.e. when there is a shortage of fresh fruit and vegetables on the market. In the winter-spring season, they complement the meals.

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