Is Canned Food Healthy?

Some of the best canned vegetables and legumes are not just cheaper and more convenient, they may also be healthier than you think.

Don’t turn up your nose at canned produce. “While some vegetables and legumes lose nutrients in the canning process, others actually see their healthy compounds increase,” says Gene Lester, Ph.D., a research plant physiologist at the USDA’s Food Quality Lab in Beltsville, MD. That’s because canning calls for heating, which causes certain raw vegetables, such as corn and tomatoes, to release antioxidants and make them more available. Plus, a recent report in the journal Nutrition & Food Sciences found that canned often trumps fresh in price, prep time and food waste. Here we highlight the best healthy canned foods.

—Holly Pevzner

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