Note: Vegetables do not retain nutrients for long

Published 5:00 am Thursday, September 10, 2009

THE CLAIM: Refrigeration preserves the nutrients of fruits and vegetables.

THE FACTS: Consumers may not realize that many fruits and vegetables experience rapid losses in their nutritional value when stored for more than a few days.

In part, that is because the produce has usually already spent days in transport and on shelves before you buy it, said Barbara Klein, a professor of food science and human nutrition at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

But there are several ways around this. One, look for fresh produce that was locally grown. Another option is frozen produce. They are subjected to flash freezing immediately after being picked. That can slow or halt the loss of vitamins and nutrients.

THE BOTTOM LINE: Refrigerating produce does not prevent the loss of its nutrients.