Sunday, July 13, 2008

Comparison of Two Canned Fruits

Nutritional information for canned peaches and pineapple



Here are the nutrition facts from two cans of fruit. Both are Great Value brand from Wal-Mart.

Yellow cling sliced peaches
in heavy syrup:
Serving size -- 1/2 cup
Calories -- 100
Total fat -- 0%
Cholesterol -- 0%
Sodium -- 0%
Potassium -- 4%
Total Carbs -- 7%
Dietary fiber -- 0%
Vitamin A -- 2%
Vitamin C -- 2%
Calcium -- 0%
Iron -- 0%
Folic acid -- 0%

Pineapple chunks
in unsweetened pineapple juice:
Serving size -- 1/2 cup
Calories -- 70
Total fat -- 0%
Cholesterol -- 0%
Sodium -- 0%
Potassium -- 4%
Total Carbs -- 6%
Dietary fiber -- 4%
Vitamin A -- 0%
Vitamin C -- 20%
Calcium -- 0%
Iron -- 2%
Folic acid -- 0%

I suppose Great Value canned peaches are better for you than, let's say, chocolate bonbons. However, they're not exactly nutrient-laden They are minimally more nutritious than a glass of Kool-Aid. Let's hope that, maybe, peaches contain some trace minerals that aren't listed on the label.

Some other brands of canned peaches, including Del Monte, contain 8 to 10% of the RDA for Vitamin C.

In comparison, canned pineapple delivers a good dose of Vitamin C and a small amount of fiber. I've noticed that the Vitamin C content is about the same (around 20% of the RDA) across most of the brands of canned pineapple.

Somehow, pineapple manages to retain more Vitamin C despite the canning process. Maybe it's because of the acidity of pineapple. I suspect that being canned in juice (instead of syrup) boosts the Vitamin C, as well.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I found the information below on a website sponsored by peach growers. The quantities are like for like (1/2 cup). But it seems that whichever way you play it the peach has not got a lot going for it nutritionally. Still, I do like them and find them tasty and refreshing.
Calories 35 % Daily Value*
Total Fat 0 grams 0 %
Saturated fat 0 grams 0 %
Cholesterol 0 grams 0 %
Sodium 0 milligrams 0 %
Potassium 331 milligrams 5 %
Total carbohydrate 10 grams 3 %
Dietary fiber .5 gram 4 %
Sugars 8 gram
Protein .5 gram
Vitamin A 10%
Vitamin C 10%

Genevieve Netz said...

That's much better than canned peaches. Obviously, with peaches, the raw, fresh peach is the more nutritious choice.

ptg said...

Some canned fruits use ascorbic acid as a stabilizer (preservative). Its a cheap form of vitamin C, and it sounds better than butylated hydroxyanisole!

Genevieve Netz said...

I used ascorbic acid back in my glory days when I canned a lot of applesauce. I don't know how much it helped the Vitamin C content, but it surely didn't hurt it. Applesauce is another of those canned fruit products that doesn't have much nutrition.

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