Getting fruits and veggies from a can

A lot of ink has been splashed on newspaper pages recently extolling locally grown, fresh fruits and vegetables for improving the diet and supporting a sustainable food system. The Modesto Bee today takes a step back and revisits canned fruits and vegetables, which are produced in abundance in the Northern San Joaquin Valley community that the newspaper serves.

According to the story, the canned food industry maintains that canning seals in flavor and nutrients, are affordable, easy to use and available year round. They pointed reporter John Holland to a 2007 UC Davis study that found high vitamin A in canned apricots and in a lesser amount in canned peaches and tomatoes. The canning process, which includes cooking, makes it easier for the body to absorb the vitamin A and lycopene, a substance in tomatoes that is said to prevent cancer, the article said.

While vitamin C can be lost when harvested crops are exposed to water or heat, many canned products are fortified with vitamin C and containers keep the vitamin level stable from then on. Fiber and potassium, the study found, were about the same for canned, frozen and fresh products.

Holland sought comment on the issue from the Stanislaus County UC Cooperative Extension nutrition, family and consumer sciences advisor Terri Spezzano.

"Anything to increase fruit and vegetable intake this time of year -- fresh, frozen or canned -- is a positive thing," she was quoted in the article.

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