Frozen Veg

dllive

Hi all,
I was in Morrisons the other day looking at their frozen veg. Their own brands (Morrisons, Tescos etc...) are obviously a lot cheaper than the well known brands (Birds Eye etc...).

Does anyone know if the cheaper brands lack freshness? I dont mind spending an extra 50p if I know the veg have been frozen the day they were picked - but maybe all frozen veg is frozen the day its picked. I looked at Morrisons and Brids Eye packets, and they both said "80g is your 1 a day", so it looks like they both offer the same health benefits.

Are non-store brands more expensive just because of the brand? Does anyone know?

Thanks

meg72

I would consider Morrisons to be as fresh as branded.

krisskross

The only frozen peas i like apart from Birds Eye is M&S.

I have bought all sorts of own brands to save 50p and it simply hasn't been worth it.

wellblechstrumpf

They are more expensive because you pay for the advertisement and the name and maybe for the nicer package. If you are not convinced, why not buying one cheap and one more expensive one and direct compare them?

booter

Morrisons frozen veg is just as good, and fresh, IMO as Birds Eye with one exception - Petit Pois. I only ever buy petit pois, so I'm a bit of a connoisseur and I find Morrison's are like bullets! (So are Asda's BTW!) Tesco's own and Bird's Eye are the only ones that pass muster in this house!

Since most veg starts to deteriorate rapidly when picked, it's in the farms/manufacturers/stores interests to freeze and pack quickly. So whilst Bird's Eye claim to pack within so many hours of picking, I suspect that they all do it - they just don't advertise it. The best way of retaining the goodness is, as always, not to overcook! HTH

terra_ferma

the five-a-day portions include all frozen vegetables regardless or the brand, they are only general government guidelines.
It's not related to the quality of the actual product/brand.
They also include things like processed fruit juice, as being comparable to fresh fruit, personally I take this advice with a pinch of salt. (e.g. Fruit juice from concentrated has been through a lot of processing, being concentrated and then diluted again)

Edwardia

I reckon that a company like Birds Eye has such a large share of the market that it can probably do long term deals with farmers to buy their entire crop at a premium price and can invest in technology. Good peas are picked at their optimum sugar level and packaged quickly to keep them fresh. Personally I prefer Birds Eye peas and Spar petit pois usually. Frozen veg often stops waste as you get it pre-prepared and it's handy. It's as nutritious as fresh veg if not more so. I wouldn't regard OJ from concentrate as that healthy but the only brand I found that tastes almost as good as fresh is Minute Maid.

jenniewb

I buy frozen veg. I buy cauliflower, broccoli, green beans and spinach, I consider them all to be just as good as Birdseye only you get more for your money.

The only problems I've had are when supermarkets (Tesco are worse but Sainsburys aren't that much better) are out of stock and I end up having to go without or buy birdseye or with some of the value ranges (Sainsburys are worst for this) you get what I'd describe as ground-veg and not full veg! Its hit and miss though, sometimes the value range of frozen veg is fine.

Edwardia

jenniewb wrote: »

you get what I'd describe as ground-veg and not full veg! Its hit and miss though, sometimes the value range of frozen veg is fine.

Suggestion for ground veg or any frozen veg you don't like - make soup.

Linda32

I was under the impression that premium branded frozen veg was packed and frozen with hours, if not within the hour even of being picked. This maintains the sugars in the produce and makes sure they are sweeter.

I would be certain that all other veggies, say from Tesco's Own Brand to their Market Value brand would all be packed the same day.

As far as your 5-a-day goes, it really dosn't matter what you eat, its all veg wether its fresh/frozen/tinned, bearing in mind any sugar and salt added to tinned veg.

Edwardia

Linda32 wrote: »

As far as your 5-a-day goes, it really dosn't matter what you eat, its all veg wether its fresh/frozen/tinned, bearing in mind any sugar and salt added to tinned veg.

While it's true to say that there's no nutritional difference between fresh organic veg and fresh non organic veg, it's not true to say that there's no nutritional difference between say frozen peas and tinned peas.

Manual of Nutrition, a Govt handbook (available at Amazon), has tables in the back for composition of foods.

Taking peas as an example:

Composition per 100g

Frozen peas, boiled
0% inedible waste 38 kcal 161 kJ 5.4g protein 7.7g fat 4.3g carbs 81g water 31mg calcium 1.4mg iron 50ug Vitamin A (retinol equivalent) 0.24 Thiamin 0.07 Riboflavin 2.4mg Nicotinic Acid equivalent 13mg Vitamin C 0 Vitamin D

Peas, canned, processed
35% inedible waste 76kcal 325kJ 6.2g protein 0g fat 13.7g carbs 72g water 27mg calcium 1.5mg iron 67ug Vitamin A (retinol equivalent) 0.10 Thiamine 0.04 Riboflavin 1.5mg Nicotinic Acid 0mg Vitamin C 0 Vitamin D

Now for most people, the differences don't matter much. But if you're trying to give your kids Vitamin C 0g in tinned processed as opposed to 13mg in boiled frozen is a big difference as is the fact that 35% of the total processed peas is inedible waste as opposed to 0% in frozen peas. If you have to watch your carbs like me, on this basis at 13.7g per 100g tinned processed peas would be off the menu.

So yeah, not all peas are created equal