Canning of food items can be defined as a preservation process, which takes in sealing and fumigating of foods in airtight vessels. Meats, vegetables, whole meals, beans, pulses etc. – are the variety of canned food products offered in the market. Generally, canning method tends to hold on to several essential nutrients within. And, thus, when it comes to the preserved food items, canned food products have now become a preferred choice among individuals. Before the canning method came to the scenario, there were hardly any ways to stave off foods from decomposition. And, all of these processes were difficult and time-consuming too. Such limited preservation choices used to affect people the most, who required easy access to food while traveling. And, without enough access to nutritive, wholesome foods, they were left with no choice but to resort to contaminated foods.
There’s no doubt that canned foods have now come up as a suitable, expedient, and practical way to put on more nutrient-rich foods to one’s diet. Especially, when the accessibility to good quality foods is almost a challenge, canning comes up as an expedient choice to make sure people have access to a wide variety of foods throughout the year. At the same time, as canned foods can be put safely for a long stretch of time and they require minimum time for preparation, they are extremely convenient indeed.
Several surveys have been conducted in this regard and it’s revealed that canned food items do offer perfect nutrition to help Americans reach the desired nutrient goals. These food products are filled with essential nutrients such as minerals, vitamins, protein, and fiber for a hearty & healthy diet. Researches also show that canned foods tend to offer similar supplements often at a lower cost than that of their frozen and fresh counterparts, especially when the waste and preparation time are taken into consideration. Additional studies establishes that dishes or menus prepared with canned materials produce the same level of taste and nutrition when compared to those made with frozen or fresh ingredients.
When canned food products are processed, they hardly call for any more additional processing that ensues while cooking fresh foods. They are simply cooked at higher heat to terminate any germs that could damage the food and then vacuum sealed for constancy and steadiness.
Canned foods are certainly considered as minimally processed for the obvious reason that once cleaned, unpeeled, sliced into pieces as required, the foods are cooked in the can to hem in the essential flavor, color, and nutrients.
Last but not the least; steel cans are definitely regarded as the most nontoxic way of food packaging. Steel cans, in the form of most recycled package, are solid and resilient. They also come up with an airtight seal to help shun off food related contamination.
However, it is really important to go through the ingredient label before one makes a purchase. There are a number of canned food items available in the hypermarket/supermarket that hardly contain any added ingredients at all, thereby coming out as a healthy choice.
According to Allied Market Research, the global canned food market is expected to register a considerable CAGR from 2019 to 2026. In the last few years, the over hectic and busy lifestyle of consumers has made them more inclined toward the consumption of convenience foods. The fact that canned food items are rich in high amount of nutrients and desired flavor has made them a highly preferred choice among individuals.
There’s been a steep rise in the number of working women across the world, which in turn has escalated the dependence of consumers on convenience foods and ready-to-eat meals. This is how the rising demand for shelf stable food has boosted the canned food market in more than one way. Simultaneously, emergence of large retail formats throughout the world including e-commerce stations and supermarkets has supplemented the market growth yet more. At the same time, people have become more health conscious and with this drift on board, expenditure toward organic food products has also soared up, which creates lucrative opportunities for manufacturers to emphasize on organic canned food items. Manufacturers nowadays focus on producing canned foods in a plethora of different options along with optimum taste, top quality, and nutritional value to sustain their position in the viable market scenario.
Here, it’s worth mentioning that the outbreak of COVID-19 has had a mixed impact on the global canned food market. When a steep increase was witnessed in the demand for canned foods so as to stock up food items in the kitchenette, the distorted supply chain and lack of raw materials hampered the production cycle of the canned food products. However, the eased-off relaxations in most countries are projected to help the market revive soon.