Fresh Foods Vs Frozen Foods

Fresh Foods

Frozen Foods

The Nutrients: “Fresh foods are a much richer in vitamins and minerals than frozen foods,” says nutritionist Maithili Pashtekar. “They are best consumed when they are immediately cut or bought,” she adds. Preservatives: Fresh foods (sans the preservatives) are the best sources of nutrients. They are easily absorbed by the blood and have the best effect in comparison to frozen or canned foods. Consuming fruits and vegetables of a local origin is better since in most cases they would be devoid of preservatives. Time to Prepare: Fresh foods can be cooked quicker than frozen foods, since they are at a much lower temperature. Our Market: Many a time, foods that come as ‘fresh’ to us might be imported and might be over a year old! They are kept in their state with preservatives. “Nowadays many companies use several harmful elements to preserve the foods,” says nutritionist Sunita Dube. Also considering the Indian market, you never know how ‘fresh’ the fresh foods actually are. “You can never judge how old they are or what have they been injected with,” says Sushila. Longevity: Fresh foods get spoiled easily. So a seasonal food item cannot be consumed anytime of the year unless it is preserved. The fact that fresh foods are soon affected by bacteria and fungus is the only reason why people have to turn to freezing them.

The Nutrients: Eating frozen foods on a daily basis may not be sufficient to provide you with the required amount vitamins and minerals. Frozen foods are also not as nutritious as fresh foods. Preservatives: “Frozen foods have a lot of preservatives to keep them from getting spoilt. Daily consumption of these foods is not very good for the body,” says Maithili. “However, frozen vegetables may be better than non-frozen veggies that have been lying around for a while, are wilted etc,” says nutritionist Naini Setalwad. Time to Prepare:Frozen foods need to be thawed, and hence take longer to cook,” says dietician Sushila Sharangdhar. Our Market: “As far as I am aware, frozen foods have no preservatives. I think if you consider the fact that fresh foods given to us travel from one market to another in the scorching sun, and lose many nutrients, you may actually realise that the difference between fresh and frozen foods may be just a few nutrients that can be supplemented with fruits or other vegetables,” says Sushila. Longevity: Freezing helps preserve foods for consumption later, so you can have seasonal foods all year round. It also helps prevent wastage of food. If food items are frozen in spacious clean surroundings, it will prevent food decay, bacterial growth and chemical reactions.