Is Frozen Fruit as Good as Fresh?

The truth about taste, nutrition and how produce benefits from flash-freezing

Photo by Angel Sinigersky on Unsplash

The frozen food sector is a $300 billion industry. More than one-third of shoppers eat frozen foods daily or every few days. And, though they’re so popular, frozen foods are somewhat controversial. Commonly associated with TV dinners, frozen pizzas, and fish sticks, the freezer aisle conjures images of convenience over quality.

But not all frozen food is equal.

Frozen fruit and vegetables can even help you get more vitamins thanks to the nutrient-preserving technology behind them.

How freezing protects nutrition

Here’s the basic process of making a bag of frozen blueberries for commercial distribution:

1. Producers grow blueberries and pick them when ripe.
2. The fruit is cleaned and stemmed.
3. The blueberries are flash frozen at the spot, less than 24 hours from picking.

Flash freezing is different from freezing food at home. It was actually quite a food science breakthrough.

Clarence Birdseye (yes, the namesake behind the Birds Eye brand) came up with the idea in the early 20th Century. Traveling through Canada…