The frozen food industry has long said that frozen products taste as good as fresh – but now it claims to have scientific proof.
Blind taste tests carried out by 32 chefs did not find any “significant difference” between eight frozen products and their fresh equivalents – in fact, in some cases they said the frozen samples tasted slightly better.
The research, carried out by the Manchester Food Research Centre, asked the chefs to mark their scores for professionally prepared products on a sliding scale. The study concluded that none of the scores for the frozen or fresh products differed by more than 5%.
Of the products tested, the frozen samples of puff pastry, pork and leek sausages and tuna steak scored slightly higher than the fresh samples, while fresh blueberries scored slightly higher than frozen. Scores for the wholemeal bloomer, duck breast, potato mash and spinach were roughly equal.
The research was commissioned by the British Frozen Food Federation as part of its campaign to boost sales in foodservice, which aims to convince caterers that frozen food tastes as good as fresh, despite often costing less.
“This research proves that – contrary to the belief of many chefs – the taste and texture of frozen are just as good as fresh,” said BFFF director general Brian Young. “Frozen will therefore enable the caterer to better meet customers’ expectations, offering premium and reliable quality all year round.”
Blind taste tests carried out by 32 chefs did not find any “significant difference” between eight frozen products and their fresh equivalents – in fact, in some cases they said the frozen samples tasted slightly better.
The research, carried out by the Manchester Food Research Centre, asked the chefs to mark their scores for professionally prepared products on a sliding scale. The study concluded that none of the scores for the frozen or fresh products differed by more than 5%.
Of the products tested, the frozen samples of puff pastry, pork and leek sausages and tuna steak scored slightly higher than the fresh samples, while fresh blueberries scored slightly higher than frozen. Scores for the wholemeal bloomer, duck breast, potato mash and spinach were roughly equal.
The research was commissioned by the British Frozen Food Federation as part of its campaign to boost sales in foodservice, which aims to convince caterers that frozen food tastes as good as fresh, despite often costing less.
“This research proves that – contrary to the belief of many chefs – the taste and texture of frozen are just as good as fresh,” said BFFF director general Brian Young. “Frozen will therefore enable the caterer to better meet customers’ expectations, offering premium and reliable quality all year round.”
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