Canned Food

Canned food is convenient, cheap, nutritional, widely available, non-perishable, easy to store, and available any season of the year. Canned food can be a great option for dinner supplements, baking ingredients, or snack options. However, there are a few things to watch out for. 
Canned food usually contains preservatives, most commonly salt, sugar, or fat. Many canned foods, like most processed foods, are very high in sodium. Canned vegetables are said to be more nutritious than fresh out-of-season vegetables, since they are processed at their peak quality; but if a lot of sodium is added to them, this is not the case. No-salt added canned foods are sometimes available. A second problem is that many cans contain BPA linings. Bisphenol A (BPA) is an industrial chemical primarily used to make polycarbonate plastic. High levels of BPA exposure can be a potential health hazard, and many individuals choose to avoid this substance. Some can labels specify that they are BPA free, if not, contact the company.

Common Canned Foods Are:

• Vegetables, Fruit, Beans, Soup, Milk, Fish, Flaked Meat
• Juice, Sauce, Pie Filling, Purees, Gravy, Chili

Canned foods can be very useful. For example, canned beans are much quicker and easier to prepare then dried. Also, sweetened condensed milk is very useful to have on hand for a variety of quick dessert recipes.
PHOTO CREDIT: "7 Survival Foods." http://www.grabtheapple.com/7-survival-foods-found-in-most-grocery-stores.php. Grab The Apple, n.d. Tuesday, September 27, 2011