Is canned fruit healthy or not?

It’s as easy as it gets: fruit from a can. You don’t have to buy large pieces of fruit, peel them and cut them into pieces, and it can be kept much longer than fresh fruit. But how healthy truly is canned fruit, and do you really get anything from it? Does canned fruit contain just as many vitamins as fresh fruit, or do vitamins dissolve by canning fruit?

Is canned fruit just as healthy as fresh fruit?

Fruit

Fruit is healthy, we all know that. It contains many vitamins and it’s usually low in calories. Moreover, fruit contains lots of healthy dietary fibres that boost your digestion. It is recommended to consume 200 grams fruit each day, which is roughly the same as two pieces of fruit. Because of all the healthy vitamins, consuming fruits lowers the risk of diseases like diabetes and cancer. The emphasis is on fresh fruit and not on smoothies or juices. Why is that?

Prepackaged fruit

There are all kinds of prepackaged fruits in the shops. Cans, jars, but also plastic containers. These plastic containers can be found in the fridge and contain pieces of fresh fruit. The plastic isn’t good for the environment, but the fruit inside is just as healthy for us as other fresh fruit. The only additive to these containers is some lemon juice to keep the fruit looking fresh.

Canned fruit

Many people, including us, are under the impression that eating canned or dried fruit is just as healthy as eating fresh fruit. Sure, some of the nutrients might be lost during the canning process, but there are still loads of them left, right? Turns out, that’s not true at all, because canned fruit preserves are a lot less healthy than you might think! We hate to disappoint you (and ourselves), but more often than not, large amounts of sugar are added to canned fruit.

Not only the sugar contents are worrisome, have you ever realised how they make canned fruit look so clean? Go on to the next page to find out the truth.

Shelf life

Food producers do this to increase the shelf life of canned fruit; there’s a reason it can be kept for so much longer! You should especially beware of the words ‘in syrup’, since you can be sure the sugar levels are exorbitantly high in those cans. The same goes for dried fruit: lots of vitamins (especially vitamin C) are lost because the fruit dries at high temperatures. Plus, a considerable amount of sugar is added to this as well to make sure the fruit still tastes sweet when it’s dry. Of course, you don’t have to avoid these products completely, but if you want to reduce your sugar intake, you’re much better off buying fresh fruit!

Chemicals

Besides the rather shocking sugar contents of canned fruit, there’s something else we’d rather not know: the chemicals that go into canned fruit. Have you ever noticed how clean canned mandarins or clementines are? Fresh mandarins contain a thin skin and white threads which we can never fully remove with our hands. Yet, canned mandarins are completely clean. This is because of the chemical sodium hydroxide. This corrosive substance eats away the white threads, but the fruit isn’t in the solution long enough to dissolve completely. Afterwards, the fruit is doused with hydrochloric acid. This neutralises the sodium hydroxide and makes the fruit edible.

Source: Voedingscentrum | Image: Alibaba

Source: https://www.tips-and-tricks.co/food/regularly-eat-canned-fruit-must-read-2/