Can Facts

There are a lot of misconceptions about food packaged in cans. We hope that these facts will help our consumers understand how safe, nutritious and flavorful canned foods can be and that canned foods should be an integral part of your life.

Freshness

Jar of tomato sauce with fresh tomatoes leaning against it

Due to the canning process, canned foods require no preservatives!

Preservatives are not needed to maintain the quality of canned food because the cooking process renders the food microbiologically safe and the unrivaled barrier properties of steel naturally preserves the food for years.

Freshness Fact #1

Canned food is picked at the peak of ripeness and immediately canned, locking in its flavor and nutrition.

Freshness Fact #2

When seasonality, availability and shelf life of canned food is weighed against fresh and frozen, the economic scales are tiped in favor of canned goods.

Nutritional Value

Canned food is picked at the peak of ripeness and immediately canned, locking in its flavor and nutrition!

Nutritional Fact #1

When foods go through the canning process, nutrients are locked in, so the amount of vitamins and nutrients in the food a year later is the same as it was on the day that it was canned.

Nutritional Fact #2

Canned fruits and vegetables have the same nutrients as fresh and frozen.

Nutritional Fact #3

Canning helps make fiber for certain vegetables, like beans, more soluble, and therefore more useful to the human body.

Nutritional Fact #4

100% of Registered Dietitians surveyed recommend at least one typed of canned foods to clients who need to consume more fruits, vegetables, beans or fish in their diets.

Nutritional Fact #5

Canned tomatoes have more lycopene, which is associated with reducing cancer risk, than fresh tomatoes.

Convenience

Canned peaches being poured into a strainer

Steel cans are one of the most convenient food packages on the market!

Canned food is able to be stored for long periods of time, allowing consumers to use them whenever they please. Cans are easily opened and their contents are easily emptied.

Convenience Fact #1

The canning process provides long-term food quality and the longest shelf life of any type of packaging.

Convenience Fact #2

Having canned foods in your pantry provides a great option for a quick and easy meal so families don’t have to eat out.

Convenience Fact #3

Choosing canned foods can help families stretch their grocery budgets. For example, fresh green beans are nearly 500% more costly than canned green beans.

Convenience Fact #4

According to a recent study, Americans waste approximately 15% – 20% of fresh fruits and vegetables every year.

Sustainability

The steel can is the most recycled food container in the U.S.!

Metals can be recycled without loss of their metallurgic properties and can be used again and again to form new packaging and other products. The steel can recycling rate has risen from 15% in 1988 to 67% in 2010. In 2005, 18 million steel cans were recycled, which is more than 1.4 million tons of steel.

Sustainability Fact #1

The recycling rate for food cans is more than 2.5 times higher than that of most other packaging options.

Sustainability Fact #2

Steel cans can be recycled endlessly without losing strength of quality.

Sustainability Fact #3

Recycling steel cans saves electricity! Recycling seven steel cans saves enough energy to power a 60-watt light bulb for 26 hours!

Sustainability Fact #4

Every steel product contains recycled steel.

Sustainability Fact #5

The high-heat canning process prevents the growth of microorganisms that cause food illnesses, making it one of the safest methods for preserving food.