Is Frozen Food Healthy?

I often get questions as to whether frozen foods are as nutritious as fresh foods. Many times, they are. What foods can you buy frozen and not worry about losing nutritional value, and what should you buy fresh?

Fruits and Vegetables

These two food groups are just as good purchased frozen as they are fresh. In some cases, they may actually be better, because if you keep vegetables and fruits in your fridge for a long time, they lose some of their nutritional value. Whereas, buying frozen and then defrosting when you want the fruit/vegetable can actually retain more nutrients. Make sense? For example, green beans lose a lot of vitamin C within 24 hours of being picked. When foods are canned or frozen, they are usually processed and packaged within hours of being harvested.

Frozen Meats, Poultry and Seafood

For this category, it really depends how the meat was previously prepared before it was frozen. If it was grilled or baked, then it’s probably healthy. If it was breaded or fried prior to the freezing process, then it’s probably not that healthy for you. Therefore, the same rules hold true for fresh versus frozen when it comes to meat. However, one thing you need to look out for with frozen meat products is the sodium content. A lot of times, sodium is added to preserve the product.

Breakfast Items

The same holds true for breakfast items as it does for meat products. If it’s sausage or an egg “mcmuffin”, it’s probably not that good for you. However, if it’s a whole grain waffle, then it probably is healthy for you. Like with meats, sodium is usually added in to the frozen food (waffles for example contain more sodium when they are bought frozen or if you use a premade mix as compared to when you make them at home “from scratch”).

Dessert Items

Again, this depends on the type of dessert. Choose low fat dessert items rather than the full fat version. For example, low fat ice cream rather than regular fat/rich ice cream. The healthier dessert options are sherbet, fruit bars, lite ice cream and frozen yogurt, popsicles, and low-fat fudgesicles, although I do admit they aren’t always the most fulfilling.

Frozen Entrees

Once again, this also depends on the type of frozen entree that you purchase. Your “HungryMan” entree is usually pretty bad for you in terms of sodium, total fat, and cholesterol, whereas your Healthy Choice, Lean Cuisine, Weight Watchers Smart Ones entrees are usually lower in total fat, cholesterol, and sodium. However, most frozen entrees are higher in sodium than a healthy meal you could make from “scratch” may be, but for a fast alternative to making a meal, they are acceptable.

What About Freezer Burn?

You know what I mean, that unnatural icy taste that makes ice cream taste like cardboard? Frozen food doesn’t actually “go bad”, but it does lose quality. So, most of the guidelines for the length of time that you can keep an item in the freezer is usually to preserve quality (taste, etc) of food, not the nutritional value.

So, in honor of Frozen Foods Month, stock up on some healthy frozen foods for those quick meals that you may need! I keep my freezer stocked full of frozen vegetables (great for lunch), frozen berries (during the off-season), frozen grilled meats, and lite ice cream!

_{Photo by Cote}

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