Having canned fruit with evening meal
The Basics
“Canned fruit can be kept for long periods of time and doesn’t need to be kept in the fridge until opened (remember to take it out of the can before storing in the fridge). If you have the storage space you can bulk buy a selection of canned fruits and keep them in your cupboard until you need them,” suggests nutritionist Julia Wolman.
“…Using canned fruit means that you can use fruits like blackberries, raspberries and gooseberries all year round even when they are not in season”.
“If you don’t use the entire contents of the can you should transfer the remaining fruit into a plastic container, cover with cling film or a lid and store in the fridge”
“…Adding canned fruit to main meals, salads and desserts helps to ‘bulk’ out the meal without adding a lot of extra calories”
Common Myths and Misconceptions
- “Canned fruit is full of sugar”. Not if you buy canned fruit in natural juice or water rather than fruit canned in syrup.
- “Canned fruit isn’t as healthy as fresh”. Canned fruit still counts towards the 5-A-Day target. Although levels of some vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals are reduced by the canning process, other nutrients are increased. Canned blackberries, for instance, contain 75% more iron than fresh and 25% more vitamin B6.
Tips and Tricks
- Choose fruit canned in natural juice or water. If you can only find fruit canned in syrup – drain the syrup off and rinse the fruit with water before using.
- For a quick and healthy dessert puree canned fruit such as apricots, prunes or blackberries and stir into yoghurt.
- Add canned prunes or apricots to stews and casseroles. Drain the juice from the fruit and – add the fruit for the final 5 minutes of cooking.
- Add chopped canned apricots, prunes or pineapple to rice dishes or salads.
- To make a spicy salsa to serve with grilled meat, chop canned pineapple and mix with red pepper, finely chopped chilli and garlic.
- Serve canned pineapple rings as an accompaniment to gammon steak.
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