Quality, taste, and nutrients are, of course, important factors in choosing the foods you can eat. But for many people, convenience and speed, or even less time spent in the kitchen, are important to cooking.
When it comes to making sure you’re not at the stove for hours every meal, canned goods are a great pantry staple that can help you manage your time efficiently. In addition, they can often help you avoid bankruptcy or break your taste buds.
This article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Consult a qualified medical professional before beginning any physical activity or making any dietary, medication, or lifestyle changes.
Still, canned food often gets a bad rap. Sometimes they can be seen as over-processed. In other cases, they may be considered less fragrant than fresh.
However, this is not always the case. Some canned foods even contain more nutrients due to heat-activated preservation methods. For example, according to Unlock Food Canada, canned tomatoes are higher in lycopene, an antioxidant that can help protect against serious health risks like heart disease and cancer.
However, not all canned foods are as healthy as you think. Below, read more about the seven types of canned foods you shouldn’t pick up on your next trip to the grocery store.
1. Canned fruits in syrup
Calling fruit unhealthy may sound like an oxymoron, but canned sweet peaches, pineapples, mandarin oranges, and a fruit mix are worth ditching. Waterloo Food Bank has advised people to avoid tinned fruit packed in syrup due to their high sugar content.
According to Health Canada, canned fruit in light syrup contains about 21 percent of your recommended daily amount of sugar. Looking at nutrition labels, anything over 15 percent is high when it comes to sugar.
Additionally, the canning process can affect nutrients that are otherwise present in fresh fruit. According to Livestrong, canning fruit reduces the amount of water-soluble vitamin C and most of the B vitamins.
Canned fruit can be a sweet treat, but it’s worth reading nutrition labels to make sure you’re not overdoing it with sugar. (Getty Images)
2. Canned soup
Soup is healthy, right? It contains meat or beans, vegetables and broth, all of which you would consider healthy food. However, many canned soups contain too much salt. A study by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) found that concentrated and ready-to-serve soups have the highest sodium content in the Canadian packaged food industry.
This study also found that soup is one of the biggest sources of sodium contributing to the Canadian diet, along with canned and pickled vegetables. That said, canned soups can be a convenient and affordable way to eat a balanced meal. Fortunately, most soup companies make lower sodium products.
Canned soups are often very high in sodium, so it’s important to read nutrition labels when purchasing. (Getty Images)
3. Canned vegetables
When CIHR researchers looked at sodium levels in a variety of packaged foods, they found that nearly 30 percent of canned vegetables exceeded the maximum sodium level. However, the amount of sodium in canned vegetables varies widely, often from zero to 2,800 mg per 100 g of food. If you can get more from canned vegetables, look for labels that say they’re lower in sodium.
According to Unlock Food, the following labels list less than 5 mg of sodium per serving:
The second best labels are those that list less than 140 mg of salt per serving:
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Low sodium/salt source
Double-check the salt content of packages labeled “reduced” or “lower” in salt or sodium. These labels only mean that the product contains less sodium than the original version. Similarly, “no added” sodium or salt means that no salt has been added by the manufacturers. The original product may still be high in sodium.
Canned vegetables can be a good way to get more produce, but be sure to check labels for no salt or low sodium. (Getty Images)
4. Canned pre-cooked pasta
Pre-cooked pasta in sauce is one of the unhealthiest canned foods. Although they can be a tasty treat, the reason they are addictive is because of their high sugar and salt content. For example, a can of Heinz Alphaghetti contains 1,490 mg of sodium and 18 g of sugar. These are 65 percent and 18 percent of your recommended daily allowance, respectively.
Considering the poor nutritional content of these canned foods, it’s probably a good idea to make your own pasta and sauce.
Canned pasta is often full of sugar and salt. (Getty Images)
5. Canned chili pepper
When you’re tired or too busy to cook, it’s tempting to grab a can of chili and heat it up for dinner because it’s an easy fix. Unfortunately, canned chili contains the same nutrients as canned pasta. In the CIHR study, more than 43 percent of canned and other ready-to-eat meals exceeded the recommended amount of sodium.
Chile is a significant culprit. Stagg Chili’s nutrition label lists 1,430 mg of sodium per 425 g can. That’s 62 percent of your recommended daily value; the same serving also contains 14 percent of the recommended daily amount of sugar.
Like canned pasta, canned chili isn’t healthy for you. (Getty Images)
6. Canned baked beans
When it comes to nutrition, canned beans are very important. If you choose well, it’s a quick and easy way to make protein-rich meals with or without meat. Dry beans need to be soaked and pre-cooked, but canned beans are ready to eat.
Some canned beans are high in sodium, mostly from the liquid in the can. Unlock Food recommended choosing sodium-free versions or draining the liquid before cooking. If you choose your beans carefully, they’re not that bad.
It’s harder to justify canned baked beans. During the production process, they are boiled in a sweet syrup that you will not drip. According to FatSecret Canada, a serving of Heinz Baked Beans contains 520 mg of sodium, or 23 percent of your daily value. It also has almost nine grams of sugar.
Some canned beans are high in sodium. (Getty Images)
7. Canned meat
Between sausages and corned beef, junk food and other hams, canned meats are one of the foods that aren’t great. While they aren’t the worst, as many contain little or no sugar, there are other aspects of the nutrition label that you should analyze when choosing these foods.
The sodium content of most canned meats puts these options on the dark side. One sausage contains approximately 1,095 mg of sodium per serving, which is almost half of the recommended intake. Spam works best at 560 mg, which is 24 percent of the recommended daily value. However, these are not things that should always be in your grocery cart when you shop.
Canned meats like Spam and Vienna sausages may not be the worst foods on store shelves, but they aren’t necessarily products you should be bringing home to your kitchen on a regular basis. (Getty Images)
Choosing the right canned food
Do you notice a pattern? All of the “bad” canned foods on this list are high in sugar or sodium. It is not the food itself that matters, but how it is prepared.
The canning process is not a problem. There is a widespread myth that preserving foods deprives them of nutrients. However, according to Canadian Food Focus, most canned foods are intact.
Too much salt and sugar make canned foods problematic. Fortunately for consumers, you can filter out the worst options and choose options with less salt and sugar to get the best health benefits from the food you eat.
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