Judy Dodd, MS, RD, LDN Giant Eagle^® Corporate Nutritionist

It's dinner time and you realize you need a vegetable or a meal solution. You were planning to have leftovers, but you're in the mood for fish. A guest is coming to dinner and tells you he or she is on a gluten-free diet. Snack attack — where is the ice cream? In all cases, a stocked freezer can provide a ready solution.

Frozen food is a convenient, safe and nutritious option that doesn't get the respect it deserves. From a nutrition point, frozen rivals fresh options when the food is handled with care and cooked following package directions. Convenience and variety are automatic since much of the work is done for you. Sales, coupons and store brands bring in the element of value.

It's hard to think of living without frozen food, but it is one of the newer options. Yes it's true that civilizations in cold climates used the temperature of their environment for food storage, but it was 1923 when Clarence Birdseye moved freezing foods to a business status.

Birdseye was working in Arctic environments (as a taxidermist) and realized that it was routine to preserve fresh fish and meat by placing the foods in sea water and exposing the barrels to the cold outdoor temperatures. Described as a chef-at-heart, he realized these quick freeze foods had fresh taste months later. Investing $7 in an electric fan, buckets of brine and some cakes of ice he recreated quick-frozen foods. In 1930 he introduced quick frozen vegetables, meat and fish to Springfield, Massachusetts and the rest was history!

We have come a long way from the first frozen foods to the choices at Giant Eagle^® today, but Birdseye was right when he saw the possibilities of delivering taste and quality. But what about the nutrition value of the foods?

Research has shown that the nutrients in frozen foods can equal or exceed those of fresh picked foods by the time the food is cooked and served. Using fresh green beans as an example, a research study showed that freshly picked beans lost 58% of the Vitamin C content within three days of harvest. In the case of frozen foods, the companies know quality depends on taking the product quickly from the field to the quick-freeze plant. The role of the supermarket is to keep the frozen foods at a safe temperature (check out the thermometers on our freezer cases). And the role of the consumer is to get the frozen foods home and into a freezer, and then to follow cooking instructions.

Here is a check list to help you give frozen foods the respect they deserve:

• Check the thermometer of your freezer. It should be zero degrees Fahrenheit. This may be difficult if you have a combination freezer/refrigerator. The quality and the safety of the food will decrease with higher temperatures. Ice crystals on your frozen foods are a sign that foods in your freezer need to be used within a few days.
• Place frozen foods in an insulated bag to carry them from Giant Eagle^® to your home unless your car trunk is freezer temperature. Thawing means loss of quality.
• Thaw frozen foods in the refrigerator, cook from frozen or follow microwave thawing instructions.

Have a question for Judy about this article or need recipes for healthy living?
Send her an e-mail at nutrition@GiantEagle.com.

March 2010