Canned fish is the most popular type of canned food. The highest demand is for canned saury as the most budget and quite tasty product. Canned fresh and blanched in oil fish, respectively, the properties of these canned foods vary. This article will examine the benefits and harms of canned saury, its chemical composition, recommendations for use and the principles of choosing quality canned food.

The composition and calorie content of the product

This product contains a large amount of fat and protein, so its calorie content is quite high.
  The following food substances are calculated in terms of 100 g of product:

1. The calorie content of saury in oil is 297 kcal.

•   - 19.4 g;
• fats - 25.7 g;
•   - are absent;
• water - 54 g.

3. The vitamin composition of canned fish is quite complex:

• vitamin PP - 2.9 mg;
• vitamin C - 2.1 mg;
• vitamin B6 - 0.47 mg;
• riboflavin - 0.23 mg.

4. Macronutrients contained in canned saury:

•   - 841 mg;
•   - 539 mg;
•   - 378 mg;
•   - 175 mg.

5. The trace element composition of this product is as follows:

•   - 0.73 mg;
•   - 0.67 mg;
•   - 0.43 mg;
•   - 0.09 mg.

Important! Store a closed can of canned food exclusively in the refrigerator for no longer than the period indicated on the lid. If you opened a tin can and plan to eat the contents in several steps, transfer the fish to a glass container, fill with vegetable oil and close the lid tightly. Store open fish no longer than two days at a temperature–4 ° FROM.

Benefit and harm

Despite the fact that canned fish is a tasty product, they bring both benefits and harm to the human body.

What is the use

Did you know? The oldest canned foods in the world were found and preserved in the tomb of the pharaoh Tutankhamun in the 60s of the last century. The can “can” was a clay vessel hermetically glued from two halves. Inside were roasted ducks drenched in olive oil, which, according to the stories, have not lost their edibility. Rumor has it that scientists refused to taste their find, but experimental dogs that were offered the oldest product ate it all the same.

Harm saury

The harmful properties of this product are mainly associated with its high fat content and processing with preservatives for long-term storage.

1. The abuse of saury in canned foods leads to digestive disorders - there is a pain in the stomach and frequent diarrhea.
2. This product contains heavy compounds that the body of a weakened person or small child is not able to digest. As a result, the composition of the blood deteriorates, general poisoning of the body occurs.
3. Saira is an allergenic fish that, when used regularly, provokes skin rashes, general weakness and low-grade fever.
4. People who suffer from diabetes, kidney disease, hepatosis, canned saury should be discarded, as it overloads the liver, kidneys and pancreas with excessive amounts of fat and salt.

Canned or fresh: which is better

When choosing canned goods in a store, remember that for better preservation, saury is subjected to prolonged heat treatment before being put into jars. During such aggressive processing, a significant part of the vitamins is destroyed, and the fish loses its beneficial properties. On the other hand, canned saury is definitely a pure product that does not require additional preparation.

It should be noted that fresh fish fillet contains much more vitamins, micro and macro elements, and harmful preservatives and refined vegetable oil are absent. If you consider both products as a regular dietary supplement, then opt for fresh fish.

Important! The manufacturer must affix a alphanumeric code next to the date of manufacture and product code. If the letter “P” is indicated next to the product code, then high-quality fish raw materials were used for the production of canned food. Marking C2O indicates a low-quality fish mix in the composition.

Can I use saury?

During pregnancy

In order to better preserve fish raw materials in sealed packaging, an antibiotic called tetracycline is added to it. It kills extraneous microflora, and the fish processed by it can be stored for more than three years. In small portions, tetracycline will not harm an adult, but the fetus can suffer from such a diet.
   In addition, a high percentage of salt contained in this product disrupts the water-salt balance and provokes the appearance of edema. Flavoring additives and other synthetic substances contained in canned saury will not benefit the baby either.

When breastfeeding

Saury, like other seafood, is an active allergen. If a young mother did not eat saury before pregnancy and during its duration, then during the period of breastfeeding, preservation should not be added to the diet. This is a difficult product for digestion, which can provoke an intestinal upset not only in the mother, but also in the baby. When lactating, give preference to freshly cooked fish without spices and sauces and introduce it into the diet, starting from the fourth month of feeding.

Did you know? The world's first industrial production of canned goods was established thanks to the French chef and pastry chef Nicolas Upper. Napoleon I Bonaparte himself called Monsieur Upper “the greatest benefactor” because he invented a way to keep food in closed containers for more than eight months. In 1812during the war with Russiacanned goods from the factory of Nicolas Upper provided the French soldiers with full nutrition. These canned goods were cumbersomely packed, and a tin can could be opened only with a chisel, but they performed their function correctly.

When losing weight

Due to the high calorie content, saury is a non-dietary product. Those who want to lose weight should avoid canned fish blanched in oil. They will not bring much harm, but the effectiveness of the diet will be reduced.

How to choose canned food

There are certain rules that help you choose a quality original product.

1. Pay attention to the label and packaging first.   Self-respecting manufacturers use only quality materials. The label will be glued evenly and firmly, the paint will not be erased after wetting, and the seams on a tin or glass jar will be carefully sanded.
2. The date of manufacture of the product must be stamped on the lid of the can from the inside out or printed with indelible paint. Near the date of manufacture, code 308 must be indicated for fresh fish, 931 for fresh in oil.
3. The fish mass inside should be light, have a pleasant smell, consist of large identical pieces.   A heterogeneous mixture of fish chips indicates a fake. Make sure that there are no signs of oxidation at the junction of the lid with the can or at the weld joint. In no case do not use the contents of the swollen can and do not open it.

Important! If you purchased canned saury, then boil it if possible before use. The fact is that sometimes canned foods contain botulinum toxin, which is fatal to humans. It does not show itself either by smell or by bloating of a can, and it is very difficult to save a person who has been poisoned by botulinum toxin. High-temperature treatment neutralizes the toxin, and preservation becomes usable.

To the question whether canned fish are useful, one cannot give a definite answer. In a moderate amount, saury in oil will be beneficial and will be a delicious addition to salad or soup. Daily use of canned fish will cause kidney disease and liver obesity.
   Children under eight years old are not recommended to introduce this preservation in the diet. To choose a quality product, adhere to the above tips and refrain from acquiring saury if you have contraindications for its use.

Preservation was invented for the same reason that mankind came up with a refrigerator, only the first one appeared in the ancient world and never came out of food. The successful storage of surplus products for six months to a year was the key to survival and a well-fed winter, and over time, conservation was useful to provide food for travel, long trips, wars, and swimming. The first conservation experiments were not very impressive: unless starving sailors could eat corned beef for both cheeks; but the improved methods of preserving products made such food not just edible, but tasty, so even the owners of well-equipped kitchens, who have the opportunity to buy fresh products at any time, paid attention to it.

First of all, canned products are captivating by the simplicity of their use: you open the jar and you're done! Especially convenient are canned foods that are difficult to tinker with, for example, beans or beans: they need to be soaked for a long time in water and sometimes boiled for hours, and there are no problems with legumes from a jar. Another factor is speed: you take a jar of canned peas, knock it over in a bowl of salad and thereby save a lot of time that you would have spent if you cooked fresh or frozen peas. In addition, the mass - apart from exclusive and exotic products - canned food is inexpensive, stored for a long time, can be a "reserve for a rainy day." In general, solid advantages and benefits. Why, then, should not get involved in canned goods?

Because, in spite of all the “pluses”, canned foods are in no way first-class food - in many ways - and that's why.

The danger of botulism. The causative agents of botulism are in the soil and in this way - through products - can enter the human body. But the whole trick is that botulinum toxin is dangerous, which is generated by botulism pathogens in an environment devoid of air. And the canning process itself creates the ideal environment for the production of botulinum toxins - even if all the technologies were followed. Moreover, botulinum toxins can be present in both home and factory canned food.

Important! Botulinum toxin may not be detected in any way, but often infected canned food swells, looks spoiled. Therefore, in no case should you eat canned food with a swollen lid, a damaged jar, etc. The smell, color and appearance of the product inside must be absolutely healthy, normal. Especially be careful with canned mushrooms (although botulinum toxin can be in any - meat, fish, vegetable).

But the harm of canned foods is not limited to the danger of colliding with botulinum toxin, there are other reasons to avoid canned food:

• Excessive heat treatment. The processing to which canned foods are subjected kills most of the beneficial trace elements, vitamins. After such processing, the lion's share of products turn into inert food objects consisting of proteins, fats and carbohydrates. They saturate, give energy, but do not bring that benefit which is in fresh products.
• Doubtful products. When preserving, the taste of products is very often suppressed, which provides unscrupulous manufacturers with an extensive field for all kinds of fraud with raw materials. So watery carrots, rotten cabbage, stale meat, rotten fish, etc. get into canned food. Cheap canned meat and mixtures are especially dangerous in this regard. If canned food contains a large amount of fats and oils, oils are not always of good quality. Here you can give only one piece of advice: carefully read the composition on the label, trust your taste and try not to buy frankly cheap canned food.
• A lot of "chemistry". Canned food is very rarely dispensed with synthetic additives - flavor enhancers (e.g. sodium glutamate), flavors, colorants, preservatives. All this is intended to give the product a marketable appearance, smell and taste, as well as to increase the shelf life of canned food. Synthetic additives are not fatal; seldom what finished products do without them nowadays, but nevertheless you cannot name them useful. In addition, their concentration in canned foods can be quite impressive.
• A lot of salt, sugar, vinegar. Even if chemical additives are not included in canned food, as a rule, they are full of salt, sugar and vinegar. Excess salt disrupts the water-salt metabolism in the body, sugar is a fast - and harmful - carbohydrate, spoils teeth and promotes obesity, vinegar and acids in large quantities can harm the digestive system. When using canned food, it is very difficult to monitor how much salt and sugar enter your body, which is why you can eat both of them more than you intended.

You should not demonize canned food: firstly, they are really indispensable in some cases (for storage in the country, for traveling), and secondly, if you use them occasionally, if necessary, or 1-2 times a week, there is nothing wrong with your health will not happen. Especially if at the same time you generally eat right, try to cook a lot on your own, regulate the amount of sugar and salt in your diet. Choose canned goods wisely and use them only for their intended purpose!

Fish is a healthy product, but is it possible to replace the use of fresh fish with canned or preserved food? An article about the benefits and harms of canned fish and preserves. How to choose this product and what to look for. What is the difference between canned food and preserves, and how to avoid poisoning.

Canned fish for a long time and make a difference in our diet, and sometimes replace us with fresh fish, but how successful we try to figure it out. But, do not forget to read the article about it as well, this will be useful information for you.

Fish and its benefits

As you know, fish is an excellent nutritious product consumed by people from time immemorial. It contains easily digestible proteins, polyunsaturated fats, minerals and vitamins in the balance necessary for the human body. So, 100 g of fish meat consists of 15 - 22 g of protein, 5 - 22 g of fat, magnesium, phosphorus, potassium, iron, cobalt, and other mineral substances. The fish contains the daily norm of B, PP, P, A, D vitamins. Marine fish, among other things, is rich in iodine and bromine. All this nutritional balance is necessary for the regulation and strengthening of the nervous, cardiovascular systems, gastrointestinal tract, muscle, brain and bone tissue of a person. However, the question is whether all these benefits of fish are preserved in canned food and preserves.

What is canned fish and preserves

   Canned food is a food product prepared by sterilization using fresh or frozen fish and other fish raw materials. Usually, it is ready to eat without further processing.

An ignorant person is unlikely to distinguish between these two products, not knowing how canned foods are different. A slightly different technology for the preparation of canned goods and preserves consists in careful sorting and subsequent processing of raw materials in order to get rid of microorganisms and spores, as well as to maximize the preservation of the nutritional and taste qualities of fish. During preservation, the raw materials are thermally processed and then fried, salted, smoked, blanched in, pickled, depending on the recipe. The result is canned food in its own juice, in oil, blanched, in marinade, in tomato, fish broth, paste and so on.
   Unlike canned food, preserves are not sterilized; they are made from fish prepared after salting.

Of course, after such a thorough processing of raw materials for canned fish, associated with the need to ensure the safety of the product and the duration of its storage, some of the useful substances of the fish disappear, but many are still preserved. It is traditionally believed that canned fish is a product in which there are some vitamins and minerals.

As for preserves, all the peoples of the world have long been the best way to preserve fish and useful qualities in it was salting. Therefore, to consider that if we eat canned food or preserves, then we eat a completely useless product would be a mistake.

Canned fish benefits and harm

   The benefits of canned fish are as follows:

• nutritious product based on exclusively natural raw materials;
• ready-to-eat product;
• long-lasting product due to technological processing.

   Any product that has undergone processing always loses to fresh, freshly plucked, caught, etc. In this regard, canned fish lose to fresh fish - in the quantity and quality of nutrients. Considering the benefits and harms of canned fish, we can conclude that they are not the best choice for daily nutrition, unlike fresh fish. But not prohibited. Indeed, the great variety of this product in our stores helps us include in our diet even those species that we would never have tried if there had been no modern trade. But they have their own taste and a different composition of nutritional properties.

Fish products are saturated with a large amount of fat, but you should not refuse them even during weight loss, because these fats will contribute to weight loss. Read the details in the article: types, weight loss, benefits and harms.

The dangers of canned fish are spoken mainly in connection with spoiled canned fish, which can cause serious food poisoning, up to botulism. Poisoning with fish preserves may be due to improper storage or expiration.

How to determine the quality of canned fish

   Before buying a can (and canned goods are usually sold in such, but sometimes in glass), first of all, you should pay attention to the label.

It indicates the type of fish, the type of raw material, the method of preparation, the chemical and nutritional composition. The most natural product is canned fish without the addition of oil, in its own juice. To change or enhance the taste in oil, add oil, tomato sauce, spices. Such canned food belongs to eateries. Next, on the label you need to look at the date of manufacture and shelf life. You need to know that some varieties of fish are converted to canned food immediately after catching, and some after thawing frozen fish after catching. The most useful, of course, is a fish that has not undergone preliminary freezing. The shelf life, depending on the variety of fish and technology, can be from 6 months to 3 years.

Externally, the bank should not be damaged, and even more so, be swollen. Even with the slightest bloating of a can, it is better to get rid of it, because botulinum toxins can form there.
   At home, after opening the cans, you need to pay attention to the appearance of the product. It should have a natural color, without additional yellowness, darkening and other suspicious changes.

How to store a jar of canned food if you couldn’t eat right away

   Store a can of canned goods after opening only in the refrigerator.
   You need to make it your own rule to transfer canned goods from a can to glass or earthenware so that the chemical reaction of the metal with oxygen does not occur. It is allowed to store open tin cans in the refrigerator for a day. If you want to know, then download the free memo from our nutritionist Natalya Nefedova, which she specially designed so that you can hang it on the refrigerator as a reminder.

Probably, there is not a single person who in his life, at least once, but has not tried canned fish. Perhaps it was sardine in oil, sprat in tomato (the most affordable option) or something more exquisite - cod liver, for example. And if everything is clear to us with the taste qualities of such a product, then what about utility?

• Are canned fish useful?
•   Or is there more harm to the human body than good?

The history of canned food

The name "canned food" comes from the word, which is translated from Latin literally means "save."   I.e canned food- these are products of animal or vegetable origin (after all, they preserve not only fish, but also meat, vegetables and fruits), which are subjected to special processing (canning) for their further storage.

In order for canned food to be stored for a long time, tight packaging and the absence of environmental influences are necessary.

The first inventor of the canning method was a French chef named Nicolas Upper. At the end of the eighteenth century, an original competition was held in France. The task of the contestants was to preserve food products as long as possible. It was then that luck smiled at the French chef and dawned on him with a brilliant idea - to pre-boil (sterilize) food storage containers. Then, through trial and error, Upper improved his method of storing food and opened the first grocery store in Paris, which sold exclusively canned goods.

According to his technology, the French army of Napoleon was provided with food. And a few years later, an ordinary French chef who took a creative approach to the issue of food storage,   awarded the title "Benefactor of mankind."   I don’t know what about the scale of all mankind, but tourists and bachelors could definitely say thanks to him.

Although, they knew about canned food in ancient Egypt. So, during the excavation of the tomb of the pharaoh Tutankhamun, ancient conservation. They looked like clay vessels in which roasted ducks were stored in olive oil. The vessels were sealed on top with a special resin. What is most interesting is that, despite the long storage period, which amounted to about three thousand years, canned goods looked quite edible and even smelled appetizing. Surely something, and preserving products by conservation is a completely reliable and durable way. But whether it is harmless is another question altogether ...

In 1820, the Englishman Peter Duran patented the familiar look of a tin can and its contents. True, “those” canned goods could only be opened with a hammer and a chisel. But, the packaging was one hundred percent reliability, and tightness ... The canned food industry developed rapidly and a wide range of products in cans, soon ceased to amaze the average buyer. The cost of such canned food was affordable, the taste, seasoned with spices and flavorings, was completely nothing, so canned food became an affordable and affordable option, how to diversify your diet without much effort. Not a single camping trip was complete without canned fish   or stews for songs by the fire. Now, from the history of canned food, we turn directly to the issues of benefit and harm.

The benefits of canned food

It's no secret to anyone that long-term heat treatment "kills" nutrients and nutrients.   And without such heat treatment, not a single canning, including fish, is possible. Although, if we talk about canned fish, then here you can argue.

Calcium and magnesium during the preservation process do not disappear anywhere, but are stored. And fish and calcium, as you know, have much in common. If you draw parallels, then   in a hundred grams of canned fish(from a bona fide producer who understands the word fish literally, and not as fish waste)   contains as much calcium as can be found in one glass of milk(the truth is that another question) .   In addition, the fish contains antioxidants lycopene and betacarotene, which reach their peak usefulness during heat treatment at high temperature.

Canned food and botulism

Of course, the main threat from the use of canned fish is considered the disease botulism (an infectious form of the disease). Most often, a person becomes infected with this disease precisely after consuming canned food. But, the bacterium of botulism itself is not so terrible as the toxins that it produces in a hermetically sealed tin can, where there is no oxygen supply. Unfortunately, it is impossible to visually determine whether canned fish are infected with toxins. There is no particular kind or smell or special consistency of a fish product so spoiled. In addition, toxins can be distributed very unevenly and of all people who have tasted canned fish, only one can become infected. To reduce the potential risk of botulism and toxin poisoning   it is recommended to sterilize canned food before use.   Heat treatment can kill the botulism toxin.

Translated from the Latin language, the word "conserv" means "save", which means that canned goods are all products of long-term storage. However, at present this word refers to products that have undergone heat treatment and are stored in sealed packaging, we will talk about them.

When it comes to healthy eating, canned foods are clearly categorized as unhealthy foods and are advised to avoid them in every way. This unambiguity is rather strange, since food preservation was a big breakthrough not only in the food industry, but also in other areas of human activity, and its inventor, French chef Nicolas Francois Upper, was awarded the title “Benefactor of humanity”. Canned food made life easier for travelers and all those who, by the nature of their occupation, were unable to cook or buy enough nutritious food, but most importantly, they moved away the threat of hunger that has constantly hung over humanity until then. Why now canned goods have acquired such a bad reputation, and how much is it deserved?

The dangers lurking in canned food

Canned food can be vegetable, fruit, dairy, meat, fish and mixed. Regardless of the type of canned food, a food consisting only of them will not be useful, since with prolonged heat treatment, most of the vitamins contained in the products are lost, and this applies to all canned food, including vegetable. Without vitamins, a person cannot exist for a long time. This unfortunate fact was discovered shortly after the invention of canned food, and even found its reflection in fiction: remember, in Jack London, in the story “Lord God’s mistake”, the whole settlement fell ill with scurvy, because people ate exclusively canned food.

The main danger is associated with canned meat. The fact is that one of the conditions for preserving canned foods is an anaerobic environment, that is, the absence of air. However, it is precisely such conditions that are favorable for the active reproduction of the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, which releases the toxin, which is one of the most powerful poisons on Earth. The bacterium dies as a result of heat treatment, but if the conservation technology is violated, it can survive, and then canned food stuffed with botulinum toxin will pose a serious health hazard, since their use in food can cause severe poisoning and even death. How to avoid danger? It is necessary to pay attention to the condition of the can, which contains canned food. The causative agent of botulism in the process of life emits gas, so banks with canned food infected with it, swell during storage. You should never eat the contents of swollen and warped cans, which can also be swollen. Also, you do not need to take risks using canned home-made meat, as they are often made without any specific technology, or in violation of pasteurization rules.

Sadly, the favorite canned mushrooms are recognized as not too healthy for health. Mushrooms easily absorb heavy metal salts and other not very useful impurities from the soil during the growth process, and therefore, given modern ecology, they can be unsafe, even if they are non-toxic species. During conservation, such toxic substances from mushrooms are mostly preserved, which can lead a lover of canned mushrooms to a hospital bed, so if you are not sure that the mushrooms were collected in an environmentally friendly place, away from highways and industrial facilities, you should not risk it.

When canned foods can be healthy

It is mistakenly believed that if foods do not contain vitamins, then they are just an empty set of calories. This is not entirely true. Vitamins, although important, but not the only useful component of food. The basis of human nutrition are proteins, fats and carbohydrates, which are present in canned food. There are also minerals whose presence in food is no less important for normal metabolism.

The content of vital calcium canned fish is second only to sesame seeds and hard cheeses. Especially useful in this regard are “Sardines in oil” and others prepared from sea fish of fatty varieties. In order to extract the maximum benefit from canned fish, it is necessary to eat them together with the seeds, which become very soft as a result of heat treatment under pressure. Canned fish also retain some of the fatty acids, thanks to which fish is considered one of the most healthy products, and minerals such as magnesium, phosphorus, and potassium, which are necessary for health.

Few people know, but there are substances that, as a result of preparation, increase their beneficial properties. For example, beta-carotene and lycopene, related to antioxidants - substances that protect the body from cancer and aging. A large amount of these substances is found in carrots, so canned food containing carrots is already not useless for health. For the same reason, it is recommended to eat canned tomatoes, pumpkins and other vegetables and fruits of red and orange color.

Fat-soluble vitamins such as A, K, E, D are resistant to heat treatment, so they can be stored in canned foods, for example, in the same fish.

When buying canned food, you should pay attention to the composition indicated on the package. Ideally, canned foods should contain only what can be eaten without harm to health: foods, sugar, salt, spices. They should not contain any extraneous chemicals that are additional preservatives. Why extra? Because the main preservatives are sugar and salt. Spices also improve food storage, as many of them contain antibacterial substances. These include, for example, clove oil contained in cloves and allspice. From this point of view, spices can be attributed to preservatives.

All other additives, especially those of artificial, chemical origin, which are introduced into canned food for the purpose of their longer storage, are undesirable. Firstly, most of them are harmful to health, and secondly, such additives often mask the low quality of canned food, because made in accordance with the established technology, they are perfectly stored without any impurities.

As evidence, you can bring the oldest of the canned food found. They were roasted ducks treated with spices, poured with red-hot olive oil and stored in clay vessels sealed with a special resin. They were discovered 3000 years after manufacture, and according to experts, despite such a venerable age, they were still suitable for human consumption.

Video from YouTube on the topic of the article: