Freeze Dried, Frozen or Canned–What’s the Best Alternative to Fresh?
Choosing nutrient-dense, fiber-filled fruits and veggies not only provides antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, but it also reduces consumption of other empty-calorie snacks, which provide little, if any, nutrition.
When choosing snacks, we always recommend choosing fruits and vegetables over the various refined-carbohydrate crackers, cookies and salty snacks. Choosing nutrient-dense, fiber-filled fruits and veggies not only provides antioxidants, vitamins and minerals, but it also reduces consumption of other empty-calorie snacks, which provide little, if any, nutrition.
Freeze Dried Purple Sweet Potato
Fresh fruits and vegetables, eaten in their whole form, are great sources of nutrition. They are full of fiber and water and have fantastic texture, which require us to chew and fill us up resulting in lower calorie intake. However, they aren’t always in season. Choosing seasonal produce will always provide the biggest bang for your buck (literally!) as in-season produce contains the most vitamin and mineral content at the lowest price.
So, what should you do when fresh fruits and veggies aren’t available or aren’t in season? Good news– you still have plenty of options! Follow along for Huitong’s guide to freeze dried, frozen and canned produce:
Freeze Dried
Is it frozen or is it dried? Well, it’s kind of a combo. Freeze drying is a process where fresh or cooked food is rapidly frozen and placed in a vacuum. Cell structure, shape and color are all preserved through this process, and water is removed under low temperatures, which maintains the fiber content! Though there may not be exact same nutrient content as fresh fruits and vegetables, research shows most of the nutrients are preserved.
Freeze Dried Carrot
Why choose freeze dried food?
Freeze dried foods maintain their original shape and much of the texture. They are amazingly portable and lightweight due to the water content being removed making them an ideal snack to throw in a lunchbox. Also, freeze dried foods can be stored at room temperature without the risk of spoilage– yet another reason to stock up!
Huitong ’s Freeze Dried Favorites:
Freeze Dried Carrot–sweet and salty, this crunchy snack is great on its own or as a salad topper.
Freeze Dried Corn
We use advanced technology and advanced equipment to produce healthy food, so our bulk freeze dried corn retains all the flavors of buttery sweet corn, which is very suitable for eating decorative and fat-based corn inclusions, such as chocolate and pralines, delicious biscuits and pie. Compared with canned or frozen foods, they have more nutritional value!
Bulk Freeze Dried Corn
These light and airy bulk freeze dried corn can be used directly from the jar. They will quickly replenish water with hot water, thereby reducing the fuel requirement for backpacking. They are delicious when taken out of the container and are wholesome snacks.
Freeze dried banana–try with your favorite nut butter.
Freeze dried fruit is also one of our must-have office snacks!
Frozen
Frozen produce is a convenient and cost-effective way to incorporate important vitamins and minerals in your diet year round.
Freezing fruits and vegetables at home is a great way to reduce food waste and give a second chance to produce that might otherwise go bad. We like to freeze extra tomato paste or sauce along with homemade pesto in ice cube trays so that they can be easily thawed and added to dinner in no time!
Contact us today to find out how you can incorporate freeze dried fruit and vegetables into your next product.