Frozen Food
You can be sure its fresh if its frozen
Freezing, if used right, can be a great technology. Birdseye perfected the technology of flash freezing food in the 30s; although it was not until the 50’s that the market really took off.
However, sales of frozen ready meals continue to suffer from consumer perceptions of chilled being a fresher, better quality format. Suppliers have endeavoured to show ‘frozen as fresh’ (Mintel, 06). The British Frozen Food Federation (BFFF) has continued to emphasise the mantra of ‘frozen is fresh’
Pros of frozen food
"Freezing can actually help preserve levels of certain nutrients in the food, as the nutrient concentrations are placed in 'suspended animation' whilst the produce remains frozen"
- British Nutrition Foundation
You can be sure its fresh if its frozen
Freezing, if used right, can be a great technology. Birdseye perfected the technology of flash freezing food in the 30s; although it was not until the 50’s that the market really took off.
However, sales of frozen ready meals continue to suffer from consumer perceptions of chilled being a fresher, better quality format. Suppliers have endeavoured to show ‘frozen as fresh’ (Mintel, 06). The British Frozen Food Federation (BFFF) has continued to emphasise the mantra of ‘frozen is fresh’
Pros of frozen food
- Providing the ingredients are first class, commercial frozen meals can be better quality than chilled because they don’t require preservatives.
- Freezing is a great way to preserve your own cooking-you can be sure of the quality of certain dishes, e.g. meat casseroles and minestrone actually taste better after they are thawed.
- Freezing extends the season for our native produce
- Research shows that frozen vegetables can have more vitamin C than fresh. If you don’t buy fresh vegetables regularly and you store it for long periods in the fridge, the nutrients could be lost so you might be better buying frozen
- Frozen food can turn rare, expensive and seasonal food into an everyday food.
- Provenance and clean labelling have boosted frozen food
"Freezing can actually help preserve levels of certain nutrients in the food, as the nutrient concentrations are placed in 'suspended animation' whilst the produce remains frozen"
- British Nutrition Foundation
Does frozen food have any nutritional benefits?
All the freezing process does is to turn water inside food into ice-crystals, which are retained within its cell structure. It’s the most natural form of preservation possible.
Research commissioned showed that frozen peas contained 34% more vitamin C than their fresh counterparts and green beans were said to have 67% more vitamin C than fresh. This combined with research showing that 43% of households throw away an average of £114 worth of fresh vegetables a year, led Birds Eye to claim that not only is Britain annually throwing £931 of vital vitamins in the bin but that we are a ‘cash-rich, vitamin-poor generation’.
"Freezing can actually help preserve levels of certain nutrients in the food, as the nutrient concentrations are placed in 'suspended animation' whilst the produce remains frozen" - British Nutrition Foundation
Some quick nutrition facts:
√ Time pressure
√ Need for longer lasting products
√ Lack of quality kitchen skills
All the freezing process does is to turn water inside food into ice-crystals, which are retained within its cell structure. It’s the most natural form of preservation possible.
Research commissioned showed that frozen peas contained 34% more vitamin C than their fresh counterparts and green beans were said to have 67% more vitamin C than fresh. This combined with research showing that 43% of households throw away an average of £114 worth of fresh vegetables a year, led Birds Eye to claim that not only is Britain annually throwing £931 of vital vitamins in the bin but that we are a ‘cash-rich, vitamin-poor generation’.
"Freezing can actually help preserve levels of certain nutrients in the food, as the nutrient concentrations are placed in 'suspended animation' whilst the produce remains frozen" - British Nutrition Foundation
Some quick nutrition facts:
- The best way to retain Vitamin A in vegetables is to store them at low temperatures and protect them from light. Our flash freezing and packaging processes take advantage of this fact.
- Vitamin C in vegetables and fruits is rapidly destroyed by air and exposure to typical transportation temperatures. Superior quality attributes — color, aroma, texture, flavor as well as nutritional value — are retained and protected by our freezing processes.
- If you freeze, you dont have to put anything artificial in the food and dont even need stabilisers. Its 1000 times more pure than chilled (Times, April 07)
√ Time pressure
√ Need for longer lasting products
√ Lack of quality kitchen skills