Does rinsing off canned fruit reduce sugar?
Myth No. 2: All canned fruit is high in sugar. Fact: Besides those fruits canned with heavy and light syrups made with added sugar, many canned fruits are available packed in their own juice or water. Just as with rinsing added sodium from vegetables, rinsing fruit before serving can reduce the amount of added sugar.
There is, of course, the option of draining the liquid to avoid some of the sugar calories. You can also decrease sugar and carbohydrate calories by using fresh fruits or fruits packed in water, rather than heavy syrup, or doing a fresh-water rinse of fruits packed with the syrup.
When choosing canned fruit, keep an eye out for the sugar content. Fruits are rich in natural sugar, so you don't need any added sweeteners in the can. The American Diabetes Association recommends buying canned fruit with “unsweetened” or “no sugar added” on its label.
When canning fruit without sugar, use the hot pack method; i.e. cook the fruit in water until hot throughout before packing the hot fruit into hot jars and then add boiling water to cover, seal and process.
Zied suggests using pears, apricots, peaches, berries and apples because they're particularly high in fiber. Check the ingredients list on the label before buying canned fruit. Steer clear of cans with high- fructose corn syrup, corn syrup solids, sorghum or inverted sugar listed among the first ingredients.
People who have diabetes and aren't on meal-time insulin would benefit by avoiding juice and other sweetened liquids entirely. Fruit canned in juice, light syrup, and heavy syrup. Avoid fruits canned in heavy syrups. Fruits canned in light syrup or in juice are appropriate to use if the liquid is drained off.
Reduce sugar and salt content by rinsing canned fruits and vegetables in a strainer. For canned fruits, choose options that are packed in light syrup or 100% juice. For canned vegetables, choose low-sodium or no-salt-added options.
Look for canned peaches (or other fruits such as mandarin oranges and pineapple chunks) packed in their own juice to minimize added sugar, says Waddill. (Read up on more health benefits of peaches here.)
"Fresh produce is nutritionally better when it is used within a few days of picking," the statement read. "Canned produce is picked and canned at its peak, so even though the heating process destroys some vitamins, the majority of the nutrients remain."
In other words, peaches are a good choice for people with diabetes, because they aren't likely to spike your blood glucose. Just remember to stick to eating peaches that are fresh, frozen or canned without any added sugar, according to the ADA.
Can you reduce sugar in canning recipes?
The answer is that you can always safely reduce the amount of sugar in a recipe, because sugar doesn't make things safe. The only thing that makes a jam, jelly or other sweet preserve safe for canning in a boiling water bath canner is the acid content, because that's what prevents any potential botulism growth.
3 Ways to Preserve Fruit Without Sugar - YouTube
Sucralose (Splenda® ) maintains its sweetness in canning. Recipes have been developed for canning pickles and jams with Splenda®. Splenda® does not provide the same preservative properties as sugar, it is not suitable for use in preserves or pickled fruit.
And canned fruit can absolutely be just as healthy (if not more) than its fresh counterpart. When storing fresh fruit for many days, the vitamin C content tends to diminish (the vitamin is easily destroyed by exposure to air).
They're still pretty nutritious.
Speaking of science, real scientists found that canned peaches are as loaded with nutrients as fresh peaches. The study found the two options to have comparable levels of vitamin E. And the canned fruit had almost four times more vitamin C and a lot more folate than fresh.
