'In blind tasting, frozen beats fresh', producers' test

The most popular type of frozen food is seafood, which Italians say they buy most often (30.2%), chosen mainly in the South and followed by vegetables (27.4%), appreciated by female Baby Boomers; then pizzas and snacks (15.4%) with a peak among young Gen Z, and potatoes (13.6%).

AstraRicerche also analysedthe convenience and value for money of frozen food compared to its fresh counterparts, looking at five products: "fresh cod fillets 'cost' 49% more than frozen, a percentage that rises to 60% if the value of food waste is also taken into account. Similarly, green beans, which in the fresh version need to be cleaned and cut off at the ends, exceed the 'economic value' of frozen by 53% (if we did not take waste into account, it would still be +44%). As far as fried potatoes are concerned, while it is true that the fresh product has a lower purchase price than the frozen, it is equally certain that it requires effort and time for peeling and cutting and a greater expenditure of energy for cooking; it follows, on balance, that the fresh costs 8% more than the frozen, which rises to 12% when food waste, which is quite common in the case of potatoes, is taken into account. For the pizza margherita, there is a substantial draw between frozen and 'homemade', considering the overall time and cost of both; there is a clear win for the delivery version.

Finally, for more complex preparations such as the paella of fish and vegetables, the convenience is, according to Iias and Astraricerche even more pronounced: 'taking into account the cost of the ingredients and the effort and time required for preparation, fresh costs 246% more than frozen (if we did not consider the value of waste, it would still be +229%)'.

But what is the consideration and reputation of frozen food among Italians? "Today, the majority of Italians (68.4%) have learnt that 'frozen' and 'deep-frozen' indicate two different products - says the Iias research - but about 2 out of 10 Italians still consider them to be the same thing, especially younger Italians (26% GenZ and 28% Millennials). Approximately 1 in 2 Italians do not know that it is not possible to buy frozen products in bulk, because they always have to be pre-packaged, and 35.5% do not know that it is only possible to freeze at home, not deep-freeze".

As for the best methods of defrosting, 'about 1 in 3 Italians, wrongly, consider it correct to let the product defrost at room temperature and only 15% of Italians know that a defrosted product can only be refrozen if it is cooked first'.

"By law in no frozen product," Donegani points out, "it is possible to add preservatives in order to prolong its life. It is precisely the cold that guarantees the long shelf life of these products. Speaking of added additives, another piece of fake news to be debunked concerns the belief that frozen vegetables have a bright colour due to the use of colouring agents. This is only because, before freezing, the vegetables undergo an appropriate heat treatment (blanching) necessary to deactivate enzymes that could cause them to deteriorate, and this is how the natural colour is fixed, which is even brighter. On this subject, we register a very positive fact: finally, today about half of the sample we interviewed shows that they are aware of this.