Are frozen vegetables as good as fresh?

Getting the recommended 5 to 13 servings of fruits and vegetables per day is extremely important for your health. But are frozen vegetables as good as fresh? What does science have to say about this? According to Favell DJ in Food Chemistry:

This study, using vitamin C (ascorbic acid) as ‘marker’, allowed a direct comparison of the nutritional quality of fresh vegetables at various stages of distribution and storage, with the same vegetable commercially quick-frozen and stored deep frozen for up to 12 months. The nutrient status of frozen peas and broccoli was similar to that of the typical market-purchased vegetable and was superior to peas that have been stored in-home for several days. Fresh peas and broccoli retained their quality for up to 14 days when stored under chill conditions. The nutrient status of frozen whole green beans and frozen carrots, with no loss on freezing, was similar to the fresh vegetable at harvest. Frozen spinach also compared reasonably well with the harvested fresh vegetable and was clearly superior to all market produce.

So frozen is just as good if not better than fresh. Next time you are food shopping, go ahead and grab some frozen fruits and vegetables for long term storage, there is nothing wrong with them. Except that it is much easier to juggle fresh fruit than frozen fruit.