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  • Steel

    The material of choice for food packaging

Steel cans protect nutrients and retain product freshness, says report

February 19, 2016

Cans made of steel can protect valuable minerals and nutrients in vegetables, according to a recent report by the SGS Fresenius Institute.

According to the report, steel cans not only protect valuable minerals nutrients, they also help retain product freshness as well as flavour and provide an unrivalled shelf life of up to three years without the need to add preservatives.

In some cases, nutrients were even higherwithin canned vegetables than theirfreshly prepared counterparts. A study was carried out on behalf of "Initiative Lebensmitteldose" (food can initiative) - a partnership between 10 German manufacturers in the food and packaging industries. The objective was to inform consumers and nutrition experts about the benefits of canned food.

APEAL Secretary General, Alexander Mohr said that the SGS Fresenius Institute report confirmed that steel packaging leads the way when it comes to protecting food and preserving nutritional value, freshness and flavour.

The canned vegetables used for the tests were heated according to the recommendations of the manufacturer, while the fresh vegetables were cooked in a standard household fashion. Afterwards, both were examined for their minerals nutrients such as potassium, magnesium and calcium, as well as for the levels of vitamin B1, B6, C, A (beta-carotene) and folate. The results showed that vitamin and minerals levels of canned vegetables were comparable or even higher than for freshly prepared food.


The report concluded that steel had exceptional performance capabilities without any loss of nutrients after canning.


 

Preserving, a way of life

 

Related information

APEAL