School lunch 'fresh better than frozen' claim misconceived

22nd July 2009, 3:52pm

A new scientific report on school lunches has debunked the common assumption that 'fresh' food has greater nutritional value than frozen.

Investigating the nutritional content of primary school food, statistical evidence established there was no significant difference between 'fresh' and frozen food for the 37 key nutrients tested.

In many cases, significant deterioration of 'fresh' food in the supply chain can lead to lower nutritional value than frozen equivalents.

On this basis, researchers recommended frozen food as effective in providing appropriate nutrition for primary school children.

They also cited additional advantages of using frozen food on a catering scale – such as its contribution towards reduction in food waste, availability, convenience and improved price stability.

Conducted by the Food Innovation Centre at Sheffield Hallam University the Frozen Foods – Use & Nutritional Acceptability in Primary School Lunch Provision report:

• Studied four primary schools to examine the current use of frozen food in the provision of UK primary school meals; 

• Conducted statistical analysis to establish the nutritional content of fresh versus frozen product versions served in primary schools; 

• Carried out independent sample t-tests to determine significant differences between the average values of fresh and frozen food; and, 

• Evaluated the results of the statistical analysis to establish the nutritional impact of using frozen food for primary school meal provision.

Author Charlotte Harden, researcher at the Centre for Food Innovation at Sheffield Hallam University said: "We are not surprised by these results. They correlate with findings of similar recently published reports that demonstrate frozen can be nutritionally comparable to 'fresh' produce. We must disregard the mistaken opinion that 'fresh' food is always better for us than frozen food."

Beverley Baker, chair of the Local Authority Caterers Association (LACA) said the report was good news for school caterers.

"LACA welcomes this new report as it supports our long held belief that there is no significant difference in nutritional quality between fresh and frozen produce. We strongly believe that both have a place in the provision of healthy school meals. From a school catering perspective, a combination of both fresh and frozen presents advantages in terms of storage and preparation as well as optimum use of cooking facilities."

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