Are processed foods less nutritious than fresh foods?

Many processed foods are just as nutritious or in some cases even more nutritious than fresh foods that have been stored. It depends on the manner in which they are processed.

Frozen vegetables are usually processed within a few hours of harvest. There is little nutrient loss in the freezing process, so frozen vegetables retain their high vitamin and mineral content. By contrast, fresh vegetables are picked and transported to market. It can take days or even weeks before they reach the dinner table and vitamins are gradually lost over time no matter how carefully the vegetables are transported and stored.

Some processing methods can cause the loss of certain nutrients e.g. some vitamins and minerals are lost in cooking water or are removed with parts of the grain in the production of white flour. However food processing can also add nutritional benefits. For example, lycopene, a powerful antioxidant (a protective substance for the body) found in tomatoes, has been shown to become more available to the body when the tomatoes are processed into products such as tomato paste, ketchup or soup.