Strawberries: Early fruits
Nevertheless, many customers are tempted by the red glowing fruits. Have you been able to resist so far, or has the strawberry lust you already packed? Here you can read how much and which strawberries are actually in products such as ice cream and yoghurt - and how you can bridge the weeks to the local strawberry harvest.
Strawberry products - what is really in it?
The strawberry hunger of the Germans has long been satisfied with imported goods. About 80 percent of the fruits that are consumed in Germany come from abroad, especially from California, Spain and Morocco. Armin Valet, food chemist and nutrition consultant at the Verbraucherzentrale Hamburg, therefore assumes that most of the processed fruits that are found in German strawberry foods were not grown here - and that they could be contaminated with pesticide residues.
Strawberry yogurt For fruit yoghurts a proportion of real fruit is prescribed by a meager six percent. "That's about half a strawberry in a 150 gram cup," says Armin Valet. Of course that's not enough to create a rich strawberry taste. The industry uses "natural flavors" here. Flavors can be named so if they are of plant or animal origin, explains Valet. In the case of strawberry, the aroma comes from sawdust of certain tree species. So it's natural, but it has nothing to do with strawberries. Incidentally, yoghurts with fruit preparations only need 3.5 percent fruit. Do not be fooled by the name: "A fruit preparation is only about half of fruit, the rest are sugars, binders and flavors," says Armin Valet.
Strawberry ice cream There are big differences here: some of the ice cream contains real fruit components, such as strawberry juice and strawberry pulp. But there are also ice creams in the freezer, which indeed advertise with a strawberry packaging, but have no fruit ingredients, but provide with dyes and flavors for the strawberry experience. Armin Valet advises to take a look at the list of ingredients.
Strawberry granola The small, red pieces you find in such a cereal are actually strawberries - though dried and in some cases sulphurized this type of treatment must be labeled). Neither flavor nor vitamin content, says Armin Valet, can these berries be compared to fresh fruit.
Strawberry concentrate (for example for cocktails) A concentrate must have been made from strawberries. Here, too, however, manufacturers can help with aromas.
Strawberry cake from the pastry chef Many bakers now have fresh strawberry cakes on offer. Here is the same as for the tempting shining strawberries from the fruit rack: The cake is occupied with imported goods, which is likely to be burdened.
Strawberry Fruit "Strawberry tea does not have to contain a single strawberry," says Armin Valet. Almost always strawberry fruit tea is artificially flavored. Even if "strawberry flavor" is on the package, that does not mean that it comes from the strawberry.
Meaningful alternatives: frozen strawberry and storage fruit
Frozen strawberries are a sensible alternative if, for example, you want to prepare a dessert. Most of the vitamins are preserved when frozen. A shortcoming from the point of view of Armin Valet: The country of origin of the berries does not have to be declared. Most likely, therefore, the fruits do not come from German cultivation. The nutrition expert advises to look even at Tiefkühlobst on the list of ingredients and to make sure that you buy fruits without additives, so no sugar or even flavor enhancers.
Alternatively, if you prefer to buy fresh fruit, opt for apples or pears, Armin Valet advises: "This storage fruit still has a lot of vitamins."
If you really want to have strawberries, you can go for goods with organic labels. Most of these fruits come from Spain and are quite expensive, but Valet believes that consumers can be sure that they do not have any questionable pesticide residues. Whether the preseasonal strawberries also feed, of course, is another matter: strawberries do not ripen and must be harvested early because of the longer transports. Therefore, they not only taste less aromatic than the local summer variety, which is offered in June and July, but they also have fewer vitamins.
Tip: In April 2005, Greenpeace issued a purchasing guide for fruit and vegetables. The brochure entitled "Food without pesticides" can be ordered by calling (040) 30618-120. It will be sent free of charge. Alternatively, it can also be ordered at www.einkaufsnetz.org.
Delicious recipes with frozen berries
Are you hungry for a delicious strawberry dessert? It does not always have to be the fresh fruit - here you will find recipes that can be prepared well with frozen food.
Strawberry ice cream in hip flowers
You may want to leave out the fresh deco strawberries unless you have organic produce at hand.
Vanilla mousse with strawberry sauce Strawberry mousse Strawberry granité with vodka Strawberry ice cream in hip flowers Strawberry quark cream Strawberry yoghurt drink
