Are canned foods healthy?

Women are typically the homemakers of the family, and with an increasing number of them working outside of the home, and even being the main or only breadwinner, the time available for cooking is much less than before. Canned foods, which are usually precooked, are very attractive options as they reduce the time it takes to get a meal ready. But how healthy are they?

Canned foods help to preserve food for long periods of time for up to several years usually without the need for preservatives. The food is cooked and then sealed in an airtight container so bacteria and other germs cannot spoil, or even poison it.

Canning some foods can preserve many nutrients, but others are lost since the food is cooked before it is canned. Vitamin C and folate are often lost during cooking, and so their content is usually low in canned foods. Cooking can actually release certain nutrients from food, though, so some nutrients are made more available from canned food than fresh such as the lycopene (a carotenoid) in tomato.

Pumpkin is another food in which the nutrients such as calcium, iron, magnesium, Vitamin K, and carotenoids are made more available by the canning process. Canned fish such as sardines and salmon contain bones, which are a good source of calcium, and, therefore, may be even more nutritious than fresh salmon.

If a hole develops in the can though, it can become contaminated by bacteria. One particularly dangerous bacterium is Clostridium tetani, which is heat-resistant. It can cause a potentially fatal paralytic disease called botulism. Cans that are leaking, dented, bulging, cracked, discoloured, or rusting should be avoided. If the contents are foul-smelling, then it should not be consumed.

SERIOUS CONCERN

One of the more serious concerns about canned foods is the use of Bisphenol A (BPA). BPA is used to coat the inner surface of the can in order to keep the food away from the metal of the can itself. The problem with BPA is that it has been found to be an endocrine disrupter, meaning, it can mimic certain human hormones. It has been linked to certain cancers, early puberty, and certain developmental problems. In some countries, authorities have restricted the use of BPA in baby foods cans. The amount in most canned foods is safe, but some authorities recommend other ways of preserving food such as glass jars.