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In the 1 790s, when Emperor Napoleon Bonaparte first offered a substantial reward for whoever could successfully preserve food for the French military, little did he know that his directive would set in motion the invention of the so-called lowly canned good.
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It would be another 15 years before Frenchman Nicholas Appert discovered that sufficiently heated and stored in airtight bottles, food would not spoil. The British took the process one step further and developed a way to seal food in unbreakable tin containers. In 1813, the first commercial canning factory in England opened.
But while canned goods offered many conveniences, many more myths were born of eating food sealed for a period of time before it would be consumed.
Myth 1: Canned goods are high in preservatives.
Mythbusted: Foods, specifically seafood, are preserved for a long period of time in an airtight container. It is through proper closing of the can or so called "the seaming process" and cooking at high-temperature for a pre determined period of time or the "sterilization process," that allows the canned seafood products to be stored for years and still be safe for consumption." In the seaming process, it is very important to use quality tin cans to prevent any leaks or pin-holes for air to get inside the can and allow harmful bacteria to grow. Once the bacteria grow inside the can, the ends of the can will bulge, thus making the product unsafe to eat. The cooking process "sterilizes the seafood, kills most of the micro-organisms and inactivates enzymes from the seafood that may cause the spoilage of the products."
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While canned goods offered many conveniences, many more myths were born of eating food sealed for a period of time. |
Myth 2: Canned goods are unhealthy.
Mythbusted: Based from the British Nutrition Foundation, "Canned food, contrary to popular belief, can form part of a healthy balanced diet. It also noted that "the very process of canning preserves foods and nutrients and in some cases increases the bioavailability of nutrients." According to Joan Sumpio, a registered nutritionist-dietician who heads the U Hospital Dietary Department and is a Visiting Nutrition Consultant at Metropolitan Medical Center, "a serving of sardines is equivalent to 6 grams or more of protein."
Myth 3. Fresh fish is more nutritious than canned fish.
Mythbusted: The British Nutrition Foundation unequivocally states that "canned fish provides more calcium than fresh fish." The Foundation said that fresh fish often needs to be deboned "but the canning process softens small bones, enabling them to be eaten, and thereby it acts as a source of calcium needed for maintaining healthy bones."
Sumpio also noted that there needs to be a distinction between the words "fresh" and "raw." "I would like to push into people's mind that not all wet market fish is in good condition," she said. "With the hygienic process applied in canning, we can be even surer that the contaminants that bring about food-borne illnesses, talagang they're really eliminated."
After Saba and Rose Bowl canned seafoods are packed into the cans, they are heated to a temperature that kills all known microorganisms. They also follow internationally established procedures called Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Point, or HACCP.
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