Why the Bad Rap on Canned Veggies ?

donyellemoniquex3
donyellemoniquex3 Posts: 2,384 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Some people just can't use all the fresh veggies within the week !
Let alone spending gas money to and from the store.
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Replies

  • soupandcookies
    soupandcookies Posts: 212 Member
    Canned veggies often have added sodium and/or sugar - I think that's why they have a bad reputation. I'm also still concerned about BPA in cans. I rely on frozen vegetables, instead. Just a personal preference!
  • chezjuan
    chezjuan Posts: 747 Member
    I think it has to do with the added sodium, etc. that go into the canned vegetables. Fresh green beans, for example, are only green beans. Green Giant canned green beans add water and salt. They have almost 400 mg of sodium per serving, while fresh green beans have 7 mg.

    Personally, I think that someone would do better eating canned veggies over no veggies, but fresh and/or frozen > canned.

    References:
    Green Giant: http://greengiant.com/pages/ProductDetail.aspx?ProductID=11
    Fresh: http://nutritiondata.self.com/facts/vegetables-and-vegetable-products/2341/2
  • LorienCoffeeBean
    LorienCoffeeBean Posts: 227 Member
    sodium, BPA, and they arent quite as nutrient rich and frozen or fresh. Still a great choice though compared to no veggies.
  • mockchoc
    mockchoc Posts: 6,573 Member
    Try to go with frozen if you have room in the freezer.
  • sbrownallison
    sbrownallison Posts: 314 Member
    For me, one word: Sodium.
  • Trechechus
    Trechechus Posts: 2,819 Member
    Try to go with frozen if you have room in the freezer.

    This. Aside from corn, frozen veggies taste better. I flippin' HATE canned vegetables.
  • ChristineinMA
    ChristineinMA Posts: 312 Member
    Canned green beans especially look so awful... my mom served a lot of canned veggies. I couldn't believe how GOOD a lot of veggies tasted when I grew up and had them FRESH!
  • Cortneyrenee04
    Cortneyrenee04 Posts: 1,117 Member
    I just can't do canned veggies after getting used to fresh food. I always keep frozen veggies in the house for a back up when we run out. They're usually super cheap and really good!
  • Madame_Goldbricker
    Madame_Goldbricker Posts: 1,625 Member
    Yep frozen are the way to go. They last practically forever, & generally are more vitamin enriched than fresh due to being frozen straight away versus picked, stored, transported.
  • Alatariel75
    Alatariel75 Posts: 18,219 Member
    I can't do canned vegies, they just have a super weird texture. Frozen is the best way to go if you can't get through the fresh, though I'm fine chowing through my fresh veg - I just resign myself to the same veg most nights!
  • ValerieMartini2Olives
    ValerieMartini2Olives Posts: 3,024 Member
    Flavorless overcooked mush with way too much salt.

    Need longer keeping produce?

    Buy frozen.
  • melissarina
    melissarina Posts: 113 Member
    I only have canned corn or tomatoes, and generally frozen peas & corn, but I try to have fresh everything. I don't like frozen vegs anywhere near as much as fresh, and I've never really eaten canned veggies, they just don't sound appealing! Like, asparagus spears in a can just sounds wrong.
  • shivles
    shivles Posts: 468 Member
    I eat tinned beans and pulses but not veggies, just because they taste like crap! Frozen all the way :)
  • Velum_cado
    Velum_cado Posts: 1,608 Member
    Canned green beans especially look so awful... my mom served a lot of canned veggies. I couldn't believe how GOOD a lot of veggies tasted when I grew up and had them FRESH!

    Yep. I thought I didn't like green beans or peas. Turns out, I didn't like *canned* green beans or peas.
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    Canned veggies often have added sodium and/or sugar - I think that's why they have a bad reputation. I'm also still concerned about BPA in cans. I rely on frozen vegetables, instead. Just a personal preference!

    This. I buy frozen.
  • jkleon86
    jkleon86 Posts: 245 Member
    canned veggies are like a filler / added volume to your meal. cooking at high heat that it took to can the veggies destroys the enzymes and vitamins and such that you get it you just stir fry or steamed the fresh or frozen leaving them a little crisp not cooked to mush.
  • rduhlir
    rduhlir Posts: 3,550 Member
    I stopped buying canned vegetables years ago. Now, canned vegetables taste like salt blocks to me. Last Thanksgiving, at my work's Thanksgiving luncheon someone brought green bean casserole and they used canned green beans. I couldn't stand it, it was like salt casserole.

    Buy frozen, or tailor your menu to seasonal vegetables and plan your week out. Vegetables that go bad after 2 or 3 days use early in the week, and then for the later days use vegetables that last longer. Oh and those produce green bags work great!

    I don't know where you are, but sometimes the frozen vegetables end up being cheaper. Like Kroger has bags of frozen vegetables for only $1.00. Oh, and frozen fruit is the way to go too sometimes, especially when strawberries and stuff like that stop being in season.

    Oh, and another note about seasonal vegetables. You can buy bulk vegetable during in season times and freeze them. For example, when green beans come in season and end up being like $.99 a pound, buy 5 pounds and split them into 1 lb bags and freeze.

    The only canned items I buy now are unsalted canned tomatoes. I have even stopped buying canned beans because it is just more cost effective to buy beans in bulk, cook them up and then freeze them until I am ready to use.
  • kaymon25
    kaymon25 Posts: 17 Member
    Personally I think some frozen vegetables taste different. To me there is a big difference between fresh brocoli and frozen brocoli. Maybe you could try a market as fresh vegetables on a market is a lot cheaper on a super market. Or at least they are in my area. If not I would definitely go frozen. They are sometimes half the price of fresh vegetables for twice the amount with an expiry date that is way off. Seems like a good option.
  • looking4au
    looking4au Posts: 85 Member
    there really isn't a whole lot of nutritional value in canned veggies.
  • mumtoonegirl
    mumtoonegirl Posts: 586 Member
    canned one word sodium and well they taste like crap too.

    But I agree frozen is MUCH better than canned if you cannot eat all the fresh.
  • bethlaf
    bethlaf Posts: 954 Member
    sodium and BPA -

    but that being said for me
    its an expense/recycling issue too !


    (keep in mind i have 7 people at home)

    so for dinner i routinely cook 2-3 lbs of frozen vegetables (yes you read that right)

    so to do canned that would be between 6-9 cans or about 1 per person ...
    unless thats on some great sale -frozen actually costs LESS than canned . and less cans of recycling to deal with ...
    i cant imagine my recycle bin after 2 weeks of canned vegetables ....
  • Francl27
    Francl27 Posts: 26,371 Member
    there really isn't a whole lot of nutritional value in canned veggies.

    That's not true at all. It's the same nutrition value, pretty much, they just add too much salt.
  • HypersonicFitNess
    HypersonicFitNess Posts: 1,219 Member
    there really isn't a whole lot of nutritional value in canned veggies.

    That's not true at all. It's the same nutrition value, pretty much, they just add too much salt.

    Actually it is true - raw has all the enzymes; canned has lost most if not all of the vegetable's enzymes. Frozen are missing some enzymes b/c they are blanched before frozen.
  • Deroboy
    Deroboy Posts: 6 Member
    there really isn't a whole lot of nutritional value in canned veggies.

    That's not true at all. It's the same nutrition value, pretty much, they just add too much salt.

    Actually it is true - raw has all the enzymes; canned has lost most if not all of the vegetable's enzymes. Frozen are missing some enzymes b/c they are blanched before frozen.

    While that's true that some nutritional value is lost due to the canning process, some products actually gain nutrients. Tomatoes are the most notable example, with the levels of antioxidants (mainly the carotenoid lycopene) increased after processing due to the liberation of trapped compounds from within the insoluble fractions of the fruit.
  • threshkreen
    threshkreen Posts: 79 Member
    Ick, besides the salt,canned taste etc, the texture is just so gross. Mush. I grew up hating veggies because my mom either served canned or frozen and then cooked them to death.

    Only since I have started barely cooking them can I eat things...like I now eat brussel sprouts and asparagas. Those were my big "I refuse to put one bite of that mush in my mouth" veggies.

    Still kinda gag on oatmeal tho....it has to be really firm for me to eat it...just a texture person I guess.
  • just_Jennie1
    just_Jennie1 Posts: 1,233
    Read the labels and get them with lower sodium and no sugar in them. They are out there.

    There is absolutely nothing wrong with canned vegetables.
  • Trisha178
    Trisha178 Posts: 1
    I recently found out I was prediabetic - so off to a nutrition class I went. What they told us is of course fresh is best - but if it's can vegetables - pour out the water they come packed in - yep rinse - it removes the high sodium - just add in your own water- heat and eat.
  • joaniej75
    joaniej75 Posts: 136 Member
    I'd rather have canned green beans over fresh ones---I tried to cook fresh green beans and didnt like the taste--not that I really like the taste of canned one but I will eat them.....but everything else I like frozen
    especially fresh peas and corn....
  • joaniej75
    joaniej75 Posts: 136 Member
    I've never thought about pouring out the water and rinsing--I will try that----
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
    Read the labels and get them with lower sodium and no sugar in them. They are out there.

    There is absolutely nothing wrong with canned vegetables.

    Canned are not my preference (it's a texture thing for me) .....you can also rinse your canned veggies to reduce the sodium.

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