Are Canned Foods Healthy? Nutrients, Salt and BPA Evidence for UK Shoppers

Are canned foods healthy? The short answer

For most people, yes. Plain canned vegetables, pulses, fruit and fish keep most of their minerals, protein and fibre, and the NHS counts canned fruit and vegetables towards 5 A Day, as long as they are packed in water or natural juice with no added salt or sugar.^[9] The questions worth asking are what else is in the can, mainly salt and sugar, and what the can lining is made of.

A can is filled, sealed and then heated in a retort until the food is commercially sterile, so it keeps at room temperature without preservatives. That one heat step explains most of the nutrition story: it lowers some vitamins, leaves minerals and fibre largely alone and makes the food easy to store. This page is educational and is not medical or dietary advice.

What canning does to nutrients

Vitamins, minerals, fibre and protein

The initial heat treatment causes losses of water-soluble, oxygen-sensitive nutrients, chiefly vitamin C and the B vitamins. Once the can is sealed, those nutrients are relatively stable in storage because there is little oxygen left in the pack.^[10] Minerals and fibre are generally stable through processing, storage and cooking, although some are lost when produce is peeled, and added salt raises the sodium content.^[11]

Heat can also help some nutrients. In a laboratory study, heating tomatoes at 88 °C raised extractable lycopene and total antioxidant activity even as vitamin C fell.^[12] That study used home-style heating rather than commercial canning, but it is consistent with the higher carotenoid levels often reported in canned products.^[11]

Canned vs fresh vs frozen

Fresh is not automatically better. A two-part review of fresh, frozen and canned fruit and vegetables found that fresh produce can lose more nutrients in storage and home cooking than shoppers assume. Frozen produce loses less at first, because blanching is short, but loses more in frozen storage through oxidation.^[10] For carotenoids, vitamin E, minerals and fibre, comparable fresh and processed products were generally similar.^[11] The authors’ conclusion is that advice to eat only fresh produce ignores the nutritional value of canned and frozen foods.^[10]

Salt and sugar in canned foods

Salt is the most practical concern. It is added for flavour and texture, and brine or sauce can carry a lot of it. UK nutrition labels show salt, which is calculated as sodium multiplied by 2.5.^[6] Since 2004, UK salt reduction policy has worked towards a population average intake of no more than 6 g of salt a day, the level recommended by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition.^[8]

Reading UK labels and traffic lights

On the voluntary front-of-pack label, a food is green (low) for salt at 0.3 g or less per 100 g and red (high) above 1.5 g per 100 g, or above 1.8 g per portion for portions over 100 g.^[7] Compare the per-100 g figure, because portion sizes differ between brands. Look for “no added salt” or “reduced salt” lines, and drain and rinse pulses and vegetables packed in brine. For fruit, the NHS advises choosing fruit in natural juice or water rather than syrup.^[9]

Government salt targets give a useful benchmark for what a lower-salt can looks like. The 2024 targets set by Public Health England for manufacturers are voluntary, but they show how far categories differ.^[8]

Table 1. UK salt benchmarks for common canned foods (g salt per 100 g)

BPA in can linings: what the evidence shows

Bisphenol A (BPA) has been used to make epoxy coatings on the inside of some cans and jar lids. Small amounts can migrate into the food, depending on the coating, the food and storage conditions. In 2023 the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) re-evaluated BPA and cut its tolerable daily intake (TDI) from a temporary 4 micrograms to 0.2 nanograms per kilogram of body weight per day, a 20,000-fold reduction. It concluded that estimated dietary exposure in all age groups exceeded the new TDI, which it described as a health concern.^[1]

That is a finding about total dietary exposure across all sources, not a verdict on canned food alone, and it does not mean a single can is unsafe. It is why regulators are moving to remove BPA from food contact materials and why many manufacturers have already switched coatings.

Where the rules stand in Great Britain, Northern Ireland and the EU

The EU adopted Regulation (EU) 2024/3190 on 19 December 2024. It bans BPA and its salts in food contact varnishes and coatings, plastics and other materials. Most articles had to comply from 20 July 2026, and single-use packaging for fruit, vegetables and fishery products has until 20 January 2028.^[2] Under the Windsor Framework the regulation also applies to products placed on the Northern Ireland market.^[3]

In Great Britain the EU ban does not apply. The current GB rule for can coatings is assimilated Regulation (EU) 2018/213: BPA migration from varnishes and coatings must not exceed 0.05 mg per kg of food, and no migration is permitted into foods for infants and young children.^[4] In June 2026 the Food Standards Agency said it intends to introduce restrictions in GB, subject to the policy and legislative process, and that the legal position is unchanged until then.^[3] No GB commencement date had been set when we checked on 6 November 2026.

Table 2. BPA rules for can coatings by market (checked 6 November 2026)

Are canned foods ultra-processed?

Not usually. The NOVA system groups foods by the extent and purpose of industrial processing, not by nutrient content. It places canned or bottled vegetables and legumes in brine, and canned fish, in group 3, “processed foods”, alongside other foods preserved with salt, sugar or oil.^[5] A canned product moves into group 4, ultra-processed foods, when it relies on ingredients rarely used in home cooking, such as flavourings, emulsifiers or other cosmetic additives. So the ingredient list decides, not the can.^[5]

For what the latest umbrella evidence on ultra-processed foods does and does not show, see our explainer on the BMJ umbrella review of ultra-processed foods, and for the processing categories themselves, our guide to minimally and ultra-processed food processing methods.

How to choose healthier canned foods

• Compare salt per 100 g, and look for green or amber for salt on the front of pack.^[7]
• Choose vegetables and pulses in water with no added salt, and fruit in natural juice or water rather than syrup.^[9]
• Drain and rinse pulses and vegetables packed in brine.
• Read the ingredient list: a short list of recognisable foods usually means a group 3 processed food rather than an ultra-processed one.^[5]
• Mix canned, fresh and frozen foods: each has strengths.

How manufacturers keep canned products safe and nutritious

Every canned recipe is a trade-off between safety, nutrition, texture and cost. Low-acid foods such as vegetables, pulses, meat and fish need a validated thermal process to reach commercial sterility, and a heavier process costs more vitamins and texture. Formulation can shift that balance: acidity, particle size, fill and pack geometry change how quickly heat reaches the slowest-heating point. Our retort food formulation guide covers pH, sodium and texture in detail.

Table 3. Formulation levers that make canned products healthier

A new coating or a lower-salt recipe changes how the product behaves in the retort, so it should be proven at pilot scale before a commercial run. For pouch and tray options, see our guide to retort pouch materials; for how storage studies are designed, see real-time vs accelerated shelf-life testing; and for why food type and temperature set migration test conditions, see our explainer on migration test conditions.

Limitations and research gaps

• EFSA’s BPA opinion assesses total dietary exposure, not canned food alone. GB rules are still being decided.^[1][3]
• Most nutrient comparisons pool many commodities, cultivars and studies with different methods, and some report results on a wet rather than dry weight basis. Losses vary widely by food.^[10][11]
• The lycopene finding comes from a laboratory heating study, not commercial canning.^[12]
• The salt figures are voluntary 2024 targets for manufacturers, not legal limits.^[8]

Conclusion

So, are canned foods healthy? Largely yes, when the can holds simple ingredients with little added salt or sugar. Canning costs some vitamin C and B vitamins but keeps minerals, protein and fibre. The live issue is the can lining: EFSA’s 2023 opinion has led to an EU ban that already applies in Northern Ireland, and Great Britain plans to follow.^[1][3] For shoppers, the label is the best tool. For manufacturers, salt reduction and BPA-free packaging are the two changes that matter most.

For brands & formulators

Food Research Lab helps brands supplying the UK market develop lower-salt canned and retort products and move them to a validated process. We run pilot retort trials at our pilot plant in Chennai, India, in cans, pouches, trays and glass, with heat penetration and shelf-life work so you can test a reduced-salt recipe or a new BPA-free pack before a commercial run. Our food manufacturing service then takes the product to commercial production through our partner facilities, and our pilot retort manufacturing team documents the process for UK and EU buyers.

We run shelf-life and migration testing or arrange it through accredited partner laboratories. Send us your product, pack and target market through our contact page.

In this series

This guide is part of FRL’s series on shelf-stable and retort foods for the UK market.

• Are canned foods healthy? (you are here): nutrients, salt, BPA and the UK rules.
• Retort pouch materials: layers, barrier, microwave use and recyclability.
• Retort food formulation: the hub guide to pH, sodium and texture in shelf-stable soups and meals.
• UK shelf-stable ready meal regulations: registration, hygiene, process validation and labelling across the four UK nations.
• Pilot retort trial for soups and broths: a worked example from recipe to validated process.
• Is citric acid bad for you?: E330, its safety status and its role in acidified foods.
• Food manufacturing service: pilot and contract manufacturing with FRL.

1. EFSA Panel on Food Contact Materials, Enzymes and Processing Aids (CEP), Lambré, C., Barat Baviera, J. M., Bolognesi, C., et al. (2023). Re-evaluation of the risks to public health related to the presence of bisphenol A (BPA) in foodstuffs. EFSA Journal, 21(4), e06857. https://doi.org/10.2903/j.efsa.2023.6857 (cited for the 2023 TDI of 0.2 ng/kg bw per day, the previous temporary TDI of 4 µg/kg bw per day and the finding that dietary exposure in all age groups exceeds the new TDI).
2. European Commission. (2024). Commission Regulation (EU) 2024/3190 of 19 December 2024 on the use of bisphenol A (BPA) and other bisphenols and bisphenol derivatives with harmonised classification for specific hazardous properties in certain materials and articles intended to come into contact with food. Official Journal of the European Union, L 2024/3190. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2024/3190/oj (cited for the adoption date, the scope (varnishes and coatings, including on metal packaging) and the transition dates of 20 July 2026 and 20 January 2028).
3. Food Standards Agency. (2026, June 25). BPA in food contact materials: EU rules and UK implications. GOV.UK. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/bpa-in-food-contact-materials-eu-rules-and-uk-implications/bpa-in-food-contact-materials-eu-rules-and-uk-implications (cited for the GB position (EU ban not applicable; FSA intends to introduce restrictions) and application of the EU rules in Northern Ireland under the Windsor Framework).
4. European Commission. (2018). Commission Regulation (EU) 2018/213 of 12 February 2018 on the use of bisphenol A in varnishes and coatings intended to come into contact with food, Article 2 (as it applies in Great Britain). legislation.gov.uk. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2018/213/article/2 (cited for the GB specific migration limit of 0.05 mg/kg and the zero-migration rule for foods for infants and young children).
5. Monteiro, C. A., Cannon, G., Levy, R. B., Moubarac, J.-C., Louzada, M. L. C., Rauber, F., Khandpur, N., Cediel, G., Neri, D., Martinez-Steele, E., Baraldi, L. G., & Jaime, P. C. (2019). Ultra-processed foods: What they are and how to identify them. Public Health Nutrition, 22(5), 936–941. https://doi.org/10.1017/S1368980018003762 (cited for the NOVA groups, the placing of canned vegetables, legumes and fish in group 3 and the markers of group 4).
6. European Parliament and Council. (2011). Regulation (EU) No 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers, Annex I (as it applies in Great Britain). legislation.gov.uk. https://www.legislation.gov.uk/eur/2011/1169/annex/I (cited for the definition salt = sodium × 2.5).
7. Department of Health, Food Standards Agency, Welsh Government & Food Standards Scotland. (2016). Guide to creating a front of pack (FoP) nutrition label for pre-packed products sold through retail outlets. GOV.UK. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/front-of-pack-nutrition-labelling-guidance (cited for the salt colour-coding criteria: green ≤0.3 g/100 g, red >1.5 g/100 g or >1.8 g per portion over 100 g).
8. Public Health England. (2020). Salt reduction targets for 2024. GOV.UK. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/salt-reduction-targets-for-2024 (cited for the 2024 category targets for canned vegetables and pulses, baked beans, soups and canned tuna, and the 6 g per day population salt goal).
9. NHS. (2026). 5 A Day: What counts? (page last reviewed 9 June 2026). https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/eat-well/5-a-day/5-a-day-what-counts/ (cited for canned fruit and vegetables counting towards 5 A Day when packed in natural juice or water with no added sugar or salt).
10. Rickman, J. C., Barrett, D. M., & Bruhn, C. M. (2007). Nutritional comparison of fresh, frozen and canned fruits and vegetables. Part 1. Vitamins C and B and phenolic compounds. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 87(6), 930–944. https://doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.2825 (cited for vitamin C and B losses at the heating stage, their stability in canned storage, frozen storage losses and losses in fresh produce).
11. Rickman, J. C., Bruhn, C. M., & Barrett, D. M. (2007). Nutritional comparison of fresh, frozen, and canned fruits and vegetables II. Vitamin A and carotenoids, vitamin E, minerals and fiber. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture, 87(7), 1185–1196. https://doi.org/10.1002/jsfa.2824 (cited for the stability of minerals and fibre, similar carotenoid levels, and sodium added during processing).
12. Dewanto, V., Wu, X., Adom, K. K., & Liu, R. H. (2002). Thermal processing enhances the nutritional value of tomatoes by increasing total antioxidant activity. Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 50(10), 3010–3014. https://doi.org/10.1021/jf0115589 (cited for higher bioaccessible lycopene and antioxidant activity, and lower vitamin C, after heating tomatoes at 88 °C).