Frozen beans- can any dentists advise

[Poneyhu]

My 3 year old loves eating food which is still frozen. Current favourite is frozen green beans. They aren't particularly hard so can't see that they could cause a crack but could it just being cold cause sensitivity or something in the future.
Obviously I love that's he'll eat beans for his health so I don't want to be limiting them if in fact it's fine!

I'm not a dentist, but one of DD's favourite snacks is frozen peas. She's 13, her teeth are fine.

Are you cooking the beans and freezing them, or you mean frozen, raw ones from a bag?

'Raw green beans contain lectins, which may trigger symptoms like nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, or bloating. As such, you shouldn’t eat them raw.'

I believe that very small, fresh beans contain less lectins, but no idea about the frozen type. I always thought frozen, supermarket vegetables had to be cooked, or at the very least blanched before eating?

When I read threads like this I can't help but wonder, how did the child start eating them in the first place? I mean, was there a moment when you thought I know a good thing to feed them, frozen green beans.

Hello food poisoning..... Google it

My kids loved frozen peas. They used to eat them out of the bowl when we had home made pizza nights. They also freeze grapes now they're older.

Tbh OP I don't think there's been any studies on the effect of frozen green beans on teeth

Most dental problems are caused by sugar and acid. When people tell you they've cracked a tooth the majority of the time it's a decay that has undermined a portion of the tooth or a weak section due to a filling not because they ate something hard. And obviously vegetables are way better than most snacks for your teeth, so I can't forsee a problem

I can't comment on the health of frozen green beans though

This is one of those threads where you are asking the question from the wrong perspective! Frozen veg should always be cooked prior to consumption due to risk of bacterial contamination. It’s more of an issue for at risk / vulnerable groups but it’s not advised for anyone.https://www.hey.nhs.uk/news/2018/08/13/cook-frozen-sweetcorn-before-adding-to-salads-advises-head-of-midwifery/#:~:text=%E2%80%9CBut%20we%20need%20to%20remember,eaten%20or%20added%20to%20salads.

I've always loved frozen peas, as did my Dc.

But ds had a real love for frozen fish fingers when he was a toddler. We had to keep the freezer locked or he would be found with a smug smile and empty packet
I have absolutely no idea how he found this out.

You do cook them first, don’t you? Seriously, I have worked in a factory which process these vegetables and picked the dead birds, baby rats and rat poos out of the product…

Oh dear.
No more frozen green beans. Pretty glad I asked!

The person wondering how he found out he likes them. He was helping me cook and asked to eat one and I was sure I'd had them chopped up on salads before so didn't think it would be harmful. Lesson learned.

Please be gentle if there are any more replies. I'm already having a really tough day.

Happy to be corrected but I thought most veg is cooked or at least blanched prior to being frozen, so they’d be fine to eat?

I’ve eaten raw beans, peas, broccoli straight off the plant, never had any ill effects and, as you say, they can be used raw in salads.
I believe frozen veg are blanched before freezing so minimal likelihood of getting poisoned by eating them frozen.

@Zippedydodah Raw veg from your own garden is very different from raw, frozen food processed on a farm/factory. Thankfully rare in the UK, there have been outbreaks of all sorts from frozen veg and berries- ecoli, salmonella, norovirus, listeria and even Hep A. Always best to cook it before eating.

@Zippedydodah
Would you apply the same rule to frozen fruit and spinach which are often in smoothie recipes/ overnight oats? Or are they maybe processed differently?

@Poneyhu the short answer is, spinach needs cooking but fruit doesn’t - because the higher acidity and sugar content of fruit makes it less susceptible to bacterial growth. Risk is always going to be lowish but it helps to get into good food habits and teach kids the same….I’m sure most of us have eaten eg.unwashed salad at some points of our lives but few of us will have caught e.coli or similar.

You can eat raw green beans, they put them in salads in Thai and Vietnamese food. So I don't think it can be that poisonous? They can't be worse for the teeth than boiled sweets and stuff, and at least it's as vegetable.

Personally, I'd always cook any frozen fruit AND veg including berries and spinach. I'm unsure why frozen berries don't have this advice on the packaging, but contamination does seem more common in imported berries.

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/urgent-warning-over-frozen-berries-4282933

https://www.fsai.ie/consumer-advice/food-safety-and-hygiene/berries-advice-to-boil-imported-frozen-berries

https://www.bbc.co.uk/reel/playlist/quick-takes?vpid=p0fxt74m

@BobbyBiscuits I would think the vast majority of these recipes are using fresh beans, not frozen ones which would go soggy in a salad.