When it comes to food preservation and healthy containment, steel really is your best ally! This was showcased in a recent documentary from French TV show “E=M6” which questioned if canned vegetables were as good as fresh ones.

It appears that while food cans are practical and healthy, they also effectively preserve the quality of the product they contain, the nutrients as well as the taste, without any need of preservatives.

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In the documentary, the canning process is shown for steel cans and jars. From filling to capping, the full process is explained focusing on the 2 important stages that are the sealing and the sterilisation:

1^st stage is the sealing: the process differs a bit between cans and jars (sealed with twist-off caps made of steel). While for the can it only requires a machine that folds the lid over the edges of the can, the sealing process for a jar involves one additional element: steam. And a steam capping machine. Once the lid is sucked by a magnet, steam is injected into the jar to remove any air in at the top and the lid is then screwed on.

2^nd stage and probably the most important, the sterilisation that allows long-term conservation up to 3 years. Cans and jars are put in a giant pressure cooker - the autoclave - to be heated to 125 °C for 5 minutes. Once done, they are sterile products, free of bacteria.

 

Preserving food quality and taste

Canned food, even if processed, is excellent for a balanced diet. And steel cans offer many advantages:

• Canned vegetables are really easy to prepare 
• Steel can helps maintaining good nutritional status as they contain fibers, vitamins, antioxidant and oligo-elements
• Thanks to steam sterilisation, the food inside the can is fully protected against bacteria. And steel cans are a 100% efficient barrier against light, air and water.
• No adjunction of chemical preservatives is needed, only water and salt. No preservatives have been put in cans in the last 200 years.
• Canned vegetables can be much better in terms of nutritional intake than fresh ones that sometimes stay on the shelves for several days and lose most of their freshness.

So, there is no reason not to follow the advice from Mac Lesggy, the show host: “eat vegetables, eat cans!”

For more insights, watch the video here below (subtitled in English) to get the full explanation!