Frozen products raise doubts regarding their nutritional suitability. Whether a food is sold frozen or not is not a sufficient criterion to determine its validity. With this article, you will learn to distinguish the less recommended options from those that are worth it.
We all know that fresh foods are always the best option and that ultra-processed foods are the worst. We also know that, by fresh foods, we mean all those choices that we can find in the market without packaging, without labeling, typically by weight. But, it is true that, in supermarkets and hypermarkets, we also find properly packaged fresh products that are also valid. The doubt often arises in front of the chest or shelf of frozen products: are they valid?
The answer, as often happens, is not immediate. There are frozen products that are good choices and others that are not. Always, of course, in relation to their nutritional adequacy, because safe, from the point of view of food safety, they all are.
Frozen foods, what are they?
This may seem like a platitude, but don’t believe it, it has its nuances, so it’s worth clarifying them. By “frozen”, the average consumer understands that it is any product that is marketed at a temperature below zero degrees Celsius. However, when it comes to food, the legislation goes further. Always for food safety reasons, the foods that we consumers call “frozen” are, in reality, “deep frozen.” This means that they are marketed at temperatures of at least –18° C. This is reflected in the regulations in this regard. In fact, this is expressed unequivocally: the temperature of [frozen] products must be maintained, without interruption, at temperatures equal to or lower than –18° C.
Frozen foods, are they good or bad?
The regulations do not clarify anything regarding its nutritional quality. The truth is that we can find everything in a lot of frozen foods: good, bad, and average, just like what we can find in products and foods that are not frozen.
Ultra-processed and deep-frozen?
Don’t be too doubtful: pizzas, various fried foods, prepared dishes, and many other preparations may be available for sale at temperatures below –18° C. If you have doubts about whether you are dealing with an ultra-processed product or not, regardless of the temperature to which it is marketed. The temperature at which a product is sold is not indicative, neither for better nor for worse, of its nutritional qualities.
Many frozen options are good options
As already mentioned, the marketing temperature does not have to indicate the nutritional suitability of a food. Just like those options that you can find in your “old-fashioned” market, you can find the same options at freezing temperatures – as you already know, ultra-freezing – or at least many of them. I am referring to vegetables, meats, fish, etc. whose only peculiarity is that they are marketed at low, or rather ultra-low, temperatures.
Advantages of frozen foods
Therefore, if you choose well, frozen foods can offer various advantages, and knowing them can help you take advantage of this option.
Food available out of season
Freezing, in the case of foods of plant origin, typically vegetables, allows these products to be harvested at their best and, after freezing, remain available to consumers practically all year round. Who hasn’t dreamed of some beans or peas out of season?
Frozen at a better price than fresh
Some products that are sold frozen have a better price than those that are sold “fresh.” In this case, and in the case of fish, for example, it represents an advantage for those consumers for whom the price of certain options is a significant handicap when it comes to following a healthy and diversified diet.
They last longer
Frozen foods (deep-frozen) allow us to store and store (under these conditions) for much longer than those that we could only purchase fresh and preserve “only at refrigeration temperatures.”
Warnings and contraindications of frozen foods
Frozen foods have no contraindications simply because they are frozen. However, some considerations must be taken into account.
Bad Frozen Food Choices Can Be Made
It has already been mentioned, but it is worth emphasizing the fact that the temperature at which a food is marketed is not and does not have to be an indicator of its nutritional suitability. There are countless “bad frozen choices,” but at the same time, there are also plenty of good choices (even more). It all depends on what is frozen and what you find on the shelves of your supermarket.
Breaking the Cold Chain
Frozen products must maintain precise conditions regarding their marketing. This affects the moment in which it is frozen, its transportation, its sale and, of course, what the consumer does after purchasing it.
The main risk in this sense is being aware that at any of the times mentioned it is possible that the so-called “cold chain” may be broken. That is, the conditions that guarantee adequate food safety are not maintained, which are normally due to partial micro or macro defrosting.
In the field of consumers, it is essential that the acquisition of frozen products be done responsibly:
- Acquiring frozen products at the last moment within the purchasing process.
- Preserving the cold chain with isothermal bags and using cold accumulators during transport to the home.
- Storing and storing frozen products conveniently if they are not going to be consumed immediately
Frozen food myths
Frozen products must be marketed, according to regulations, and packaged, except when they are purchased “by weight.” For this reason, many consumers have some doubts regarding its suitability. Therefore, it is necessary to know how to clarify some misunderstandings about this range of products :
Frozen foods do not lose nutritional qualities
Far from losing qualities, frozen foods often allow us to enjoy certain food options, with all their qualities. In fact, if the entire marketing process is carried out properly, the nutritional characteristics of frozen products are virtually identical to those they had prior to freezing.
Freezing does not improve the food safety of fresh product
This is important. Freezing does not kill microorganisms, whether bacteria or viruses nor does it inactivate possible toxins present in the food before it was frozen. Freezing, carried out and maintained properly, paralyzes the proliferation or increase of these elements. This means that the use of frozen food must be carried out under appropriate conditions:
- Cooking the food directly. That is, from its frozen state to fire.
- Defrosting appropriately for later cooking. This means that defrosting must be carried out under refrigeration conditions (never at room temperature!) or in the microwave, although in this case there may be a significant loss of sensory characteristics.
- Never refreeze a thawed product unless it has been cooked and, obviously, observing the recommendations regarding freezing.