Are fresh fruits and vegetables better than frozen, canned, and dried?

Last Updated : 19 December 2025

Key takeaways:

• Fresh, frozen, canned, and dried fruits and vegetables are all nutritious and count toward your 5-a-day. Choose no-added-sugar canned fruit and lower-salt vegetables when possible (<0.3 g salt/100 g).
• Frozen and canned fruits and vegetables are nutritionally comparable to their fresh counterparts and sometimes superior. Because they last much longer, they’re less likely to spoil before being eaten, which helps reduce food waste at home. They’re also usually more affordable than fresh produce.
• The belief that “fresh is best” is largely a perception, not a scientific fact. What matters most is eating a variety of fruits and vegetables in any form that fits your lifestyle.

Fresh fruits and vegetables are often seen as the gold standard of healthy eating. But frozen, canned, and dried options can be just as nutritious. Here’s why “fresh is best” isn’t always true and how all forms of produce can help you meet your daily fruit and vegetable goals.

Fact: fresh, frozen, canned, and dried fruits and vegetables can all be nutritious choices.

All forms of fruits and vegetables, whether fresh, frozen, canned, or dried, can contribute to a healthy diet and count towards your 5-a-day (minimum 400 g of fruit and vegetables per day).

Frozen produce is usually harvested at peak ripeness and rapidly frozen, which helps preserve nutrients and reduce spoilage.¹ Frozen and canned fruits and vegetables are nutritionally comparable to their fresh counterparts and sometimes superior.²

Canned fruit and vegetables are also good sources of fibre and micronutrients and have been associated with a higher dietary quality, meaning a more nutrient adequate and balanced eating pattern.³ Choose no-added-sugar fruit and lower-salt vegetables when possible (&lt;0.3 g salt/100 g).

Dried fruits are nutrient-dense, offering concentrated fibre, vitamins, and minerals in small portions. A 20-30 g serving can provide 10-16% of your daily fibre needs, depending on the fruit. Regularly eating dried fruits has been linked to a lower risk of cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, and other chronic conditions.5 Since they're calorie-dense, enjoy them in mindful portions. A 30 g serving of dried fruit (the equivalent to around 80 g or 1 portion of fresh fruit) counts as 1 portion of your 5-a-day. This is about 1 heaped tablespoon of raisins, currants or sultanas, 1 tablespoon of mixed dried fruit, 2 figs, 3 prunes or 1 handful of dried banana chips.
On top of their nutritional benefits, frozen, canned, and dried fruits and vegetables have a much longer shelf-life than fresh fruits and vegetables, which means they’re less likely to spoil before being eaten and therefore can help reduce food waste at home. They also often cost less than fresh alternatives, making it easier to maintain a balanced diet year-round.

Myth: fresh fruits and vegetables are always superior in nutrition to canned or frozen varieties.

It’s easy to assume that fresh is always better. The word fresh brings images of just-picked produce, bursting with flavour, and vitamins. But that’s not always what ends up on your plate. In many cases, fresh fruits and vegetables are harvested early, stored, transported across long distances, and then kept in shops and home fridges for days or weeks. During this time, maturation continues, which can improve taste but doesn’t necessarily improve the nutritional quality. Meanwhile, light and oxygen can reduce nutrient levels, especially vitamin C and antioxidants.^1,5 Rapid freezing soon after harvest helps preserve vitamins and antioxidants.

For example, spinach can lose all its vitamin C within a week at room temperature; 75% if refrigerated, but only about 30% when frozen. Similarly, green peas lose 60% of their vitamin C content when stored for a week at room temperature, 15% if refrigerated, and only 10% when frozen.⁶

Freezing, canning, and drying help lock in nutrients, and in some cases even improve their bioavailability. For example, the heat used in canned tomatoes breaks down cell walls, enhancing the release of lycopene and increasing its absorption in the body.⁷ Canned and frozen apricots also retain and, in some cases, boost their content of antioxidants, beta-carotene, vitamin C, and phenols compared to fresh apricots.⁸

Drying removes water and concentrates nutrients, although some vitamin C and carotenoids can decrease depending on the drying method.⁹ For example, when foods are dried with warm air, they may lose 2 to 10 times more vitamin C compared to fresh ones and about 6% to 65% of their carotenoids, depending on the type of fruit or vegetable and the drying conditions.¹⁰ An additional advantage of drying is that it significantly reduces storage and transport costs, as dried foods are lighter, take up less space, and are more shelf-stable.

It is worth noting that drying – and to a lesser extent freezing – requires energy, which can affect their environmental footprint. However, these impacts need to be balanced against reduced food waste, longer shelf life, and fewer transport losses compared to fresh produce.
While freezing, canning and drying can protect some nutrients, some others like vitamin C and B vitamins, can degrade during certain heating methods. Similarly, long cooking times, high temperatures, or prolonged storage of any fruit or vegetable, either fresh or processed, may reduce micronutrients content.^6,11

Fallacy: the “fresh is best” idea is driven more by perception and bias than by science.

Many people associate fresh produce with being “natural,” “pure,” and “healthy,” while viewing canned or frozen options as “processed” or “second-best.”^2,12These assumptions create a halo effect, where freshness feels better even if the nutrient content is similar. Cultural attitudes (e.g., buying fresh produce is seen as part of a “good” lifestyle) and concerns about processing also reinforce this bias.

In reality, frozen, canned, and dried fruits and vegetables are all nutritious, affordable, long-lasting, and convenient options that can help you reach your 5-a-day. The healthiest choice is the one that helps you eat more fruits and vegetables every day, whether fresh, frozen, canned, or dried.