For many years, frozen food was considered ‘unhealthy’ or ‘not as good as fresh food’. This could not be further from the truth and thankfully scientists and nutritionists have eventually busted this myth.
There is an element of ‘inverted snobbery’ when people claim that ‘fresh is best’ – unless you pick something straight from a tree, or freshly dug up from organic soil in your garden, this statement couldn’t be more wrong.
What does Fresh Food Mean?
Supermarkets have a great range of so-called fresh food, so why choose frozen?
Next time you wander around a supermarket, looking lovingly at the vast array of fresh fruit, vegetables, fish and meat you should ask yourself ‘how long did it take to get here?’
Those gorgeous, glossy apples you see may well have not seen a tree for many months and will certainly have been treated with some kind of preservative to retain their good looks. Or those delicious, pink and juicy prawns may well have been in frozen blocks of ice in a container for a long, long time, and in some cases, colouration has been applied.
If you add transit time from point of origin to arrival on the shelf, fresh is well, frankly, no longer fresh.
Is frozen food less nutritious?
The truth of the matter is that freezing does not remove, damage or lessen the nutritional content of any food product. Generally, frozen foods retain their vitamins and minerals and there is no change to the carbohydrate, protein or fat content.
In some cases, frozen foods have more vitamins and minerals compared to fresh because fresh foods lose vitamins and minerals over time while freezing preserves nutrients.
Quality manufacturers such as Hey Fresto! will always use approved and ethically sourced produce from suppliers that they know and trust. Making sure the quality of the food is of the highest standards ensures the flavours and nutritional content of the meals that arrive ready for you to cook.
Why don’t frozen foods need preservatives?
If due care and attention is applied when freezing food, they will never need preservatives of any kind. This due to because microorganisms do not grow when the temperature of the food is below −9.5 °C (15 °F), which is sufficient on its own in preventing food spoilage. Long-term preservation of food may call for food storage at even lower temperatures.
Dedicated manufacturers of frozen food will always use blast freezers to retain the flavour, nutritional value and to prevent further growth of any microbes (bacteria) that may be trapped in the produce.
Blast freezing is the most efficient and fastest way to maintain the quality of the product.
If you are purchasing food that you are going to place in your freezer, always buy it ready frozen and defrost and cook it as per the manufacturer’s instructions, to ensure premium usage.
Frozen food can be an asset, a cost saver and is low on wastage. Beautifully produced frozen meals are not only flavoursome, but they can also be more nutritious than fresh if handled correctly.