Healthy snacks or sugar bombs? Shelf-stable staples or local economy killers?
Some canned fruits should stock your pantry, others are best left at the store.
Let's explore which cans are worth your dollar.
The majority of pineapples consumed in the U.S. are imported from Mexico
or Central and South America. While fruits that are grown on American soil come from Hawaii,
Puerto Rico, and small-scale farms in Florida, Georgia, and California.
This regal fruit is available year-round, but it still has a limited growing season.
When you purchase pineapple during its prime months, it'll be the sweetest and
juiciest of the year. Like all canned produce, pineapples are picked at the peak of the season,
ensuring that you get the maximum nutritional benefits and flavor.
That said, pineapple production can still fall victim to natural disasters,
pests, and a whole host of negative external impacts that affect the size, flavor, and price.
That's one reason why you should keep canned pineapple at home — you won't
have to deal with inflated prices or subpar fruits.
Nutritionally, pineapples are chock-full of vitamin C,
B vitamins, manganese, potassium, and magnesium, to name just a few.
They're also the only fruit to contain the enzyme bromelain, which has anti-inflammatory
properties and has been known to suppress the growth of certain cancerous tumors.
Fruit cocktails are iconic and steeped in American culture. In fact, you've probably encountered the
snack at least once in your life. It's thought that this rainbow-colored canned good arrived
on the scene sometime around 1930. In post-WWII America, it was considered a healthy alternative
for families who had limited access to fruit. And while accessibility has changed a bit since then,
fruit cocktail is so celebrated that it even has its own national holiday.
But what exactly is it? Believe it or not,
the FDA has some strict guidelines about what constitutes a true canned fruit cocktail.
"It's true."
It has to contain 30% to 50% diced peaches, 25% to 45% diced pears,
6% to 16% diced pineapple, 6% to 20% whole seedless grapes, and 2% to 6% sweet cherries.
Sounds great, right?
So what's the problem? Well, one cup of canned fruit cocktail contains 44.4 grams of sugar!
"Excuse me, what?"
Oh, yeah! And it gets worse when you realize the American Heart Association
recommends a maximum of 36 grams of sugar for men and 25 grams of sugar for women daily.
We're talking about 100% pumpkin puree, not canned pumpkin pie filling.
That canned sibling is a totally different — and not so versatile — animal. Canned pumpkin,
on the other hand, has had a bit of a hectic past. When news broke out that it wasn't made
using your typical orange jack-o-lantern type pumpkin, people fell into a fit.
Pumpkin puree is actually made with the Dickinson pumpkin, whose origin can be
traced back to the mid-1830s. It's also not really a pumpkin but a squash posing as one.
Dickinson pumpkins are known for their bountiful flesh because unlike their
grim-grinning relatives, they aren't hollow. They can also reach upwards of 30 pounds, making them
the beast of the pumpkin patch and perfect for canning, and definitely worth keeping on hand.
"Why?"
Well, you see, this multifaceted fruit — yes, a pumpkin is technically a fruit — is
packed with vitamins and minerals. One cup of cooked pumpkin contains 245% of your
daily recommended value of vitamin A, which is important for your eyes and cells. Pumpkin can
also be used for more than just pie; it's great in soups, curries, and even hummus.
In their natural state, berries are at their best in the summer months, starting from May until the
beginning of September. Once their season is over, the price begins to hike up while the quality
decreases. Your berries will be smaller, duller, sometimes shriveled, and basically lifeless.
These little fruits are full of antioxidants, like anthocyanin, resveratrol, and ellagic acid.
According to experts, anthocyanins give these fruits their color
and help protect them from the elements. Though the research is still in preliminary stages,
berries and other fruits high in anthocyanins
might help reduce the risk of heart disease and contribute to preventing breast cancer.
It might seem smart to keep canned berries in your home, but there's one major health-defying
ingredient you're going to want to look into first: sugar. The U.S. Highbush Blueberry
Council states that a 1-cup serving of fresh blueberries contains 14 grams of natural sugar,
while the same serving size of frozen blueberries contains 12 grams. When it comes
to canned blueberries — in light syrup, no less — a half-cup serving contains 22 grams of sugar.
Do you keep a few dozen fresh coconuts and a coconut grater on hand for those
moments when you're in dire need of coconut milk?
"No? Should I?"
Not at all. In fact, it's much easier to just keep a few cans of coconut milk on hand.
When you're out shopping to restock your pantry,
keep in mind that canned coconut milk comes in a few different forms.
For starters, coconut cream can be found in both a carton and a can.
It has a higher fat content that gives it a rich, smooth, and thick consistency,
which makes it an excellent candidate for non-dairy recipes. Coconut milk is also
available in a can and carton, but the latter is typically meant for drinking and less for cooking.
Coconut milk packaged in cartons usually contains additives and sweeteners, with a thinner texture.
Canned coconut milk is the midway point between the two — it's still pourable,
but it's thicker and more viscous, much like heavy cream. Canned coconut milk is an
amazingly versatile food item that successfully crosses into both sweet and savory recipes.
Besides being tasty, coconut milk is darn healthy.
It contains antioxidants and antimicrobials — which help keep your body free from disease.
As well as medium-chain triglycerides which help convert fat into energy.
The maraschino cherry has sat upon the tops of sundaes, swam around in cocktails,
and been suspended in Jell-o molds. The bright red cherries were first created in the late 1920s.
Wealthy Americans brought preserved maraschino cherries over from Europe,
and Oregon farmers wanted to compete. The problem with this particular cherry — the Queen Anne —was
that it spoiled quickly and basically turned to mush when undergoing preservation methods.
So a professor from Oregon State University created the preservation process that's still
used today. Oregonian food scientists piggybacked on this recipe and created
a process that included bleaching the cherries so that they could be dyed unnaturally bright colors.
"WHAT?!"
Cherries aren't naturally that red. Maraschino cherries do have one or two legit purposes,
for example, they're good on sundaes and a key ingredient in a Shirley Temple.
However, keeping multiple jars stashed away for snacking probably isn't the best move.
By the time they reach the jar, they're no longer really cherries.
Stone fruits include pretty much any fruit containing a large pit;
peaches, plums, apricots, and nectarines, are a few examples.
According to the Seasonal Food Guide, in the Northern Hemisphere stone fruits typically
only grow during the summer months from June or July until late August or early September.
Besides having a relatively short season, stone fruits fall under the quickly perishable category.
They're incredibly delicate and with one small bruise, you can expect the lifespan
of that sweet-fleshed fruit to seemingly dwindle overnight.
And what do you do if you end up with a bunch of fruit that's all about to go bad?
"I don't know."
Well, you either eat 'em, freeze 'em, or can 'em as is or turn them into jam and jelly.
To make matters worse, the past two years have had a profound impact on the cost of
stone fruit production. California's central valley is responsible for growing more than 80%
of the country's stone fruit. California's stone fruit industry costs have risen 45% since 2020,
which is ultimately reflected at the cash register. So in this case,
keeping canned stone fruits in your cupboards is an economical way to get your off-season fix.
You know it's apple season when the leaves on the trees start turning warm reds and oranges and
pumpkin spice treats make their annual appearance. The fruit's main harvest season is late August
through mid-November, which is when you'll taste it the way that nature intended — bright,
flavorful, sweet, and crisp. From a shopping perspective, one of the best qualities of apples
is that you can purchase them year-round, and they're still pretty affordable.
While an apple a day is said to keep the doctor away, canned apples probably aren't as beneficial.
In fact, they could even have a negative impact on your overall health.
One serving of canned apple slices contains 30.6 grams of sugar.
The same serving size of fresh apples entails consuming a mere 13 grams of sugar.
Because fresh apples are so readily available, there's really no reason
to purchase canned apples, unless you're making pie. Even then, homemade pie filling is pretty
simple to make and doesn't include the syrup and additives you'll find in packaged versions.
Canned tomatoes are sometimes avoided by consumers for fear of botulism or BPA.
Luckily, botulism generally only occurs in low-acid foods or those that are processed using
poor home-canning techniques. Therefore, it's relatively uncommon for these little red globes
of goodness to cause this deadly illness. Still afraid of BPA-laced cans? Don't be.
BPA-lined cans are no longer used by U.S. tomato packing facilities.
Plus, the label typically indicates whether a can is BPA-free or not.
In their fresh form, tomatoes are packed full of vitamins and minerals, like calcium, potassium,
and folate. But canned tomatoes have a little extra trick. As they are cooked, the heat actually
opens up the fruit's cell membranes — kind of like the way steam opens up your pores during a facial.
This means that your body now has the ability to absorb even more of the plentiful antioxidants and
nutrients tomatoes have to offer. Especially the cancer-fighting compound lycopene.
So in the case of the magical tomato, fresh is great but so is canned.
Yet another fruit that should be added to the "I bruise easily" list;
pears come in over 3,000 varieties worldwide. All the same, you're probably most familiar with
Bartlett, Bosc, and Anjou. These fruits are touted as being packed full of water, fiber,
and fructose, making them ideal for individuals with digestive issues.
They're definitely considered high in sugar with 14 grams per cup. Canned pears in their own
juice or light syrup contain even more sugar per serving and those in heavy syrup are even worse.
But the biggest reason you should consider abstaining from canned pears is that depending
on the brand, whatever's inside likely does not come from the United States.
Since 2001 consumers have shown more interest in fresh pears, which has negatively impacted
the Washington and Oregon canned pear industry. It doesn't help that the U.S. imports canned
pears from China because they're several dollars cheaper than those canned locally.