Frozen foods may seem like a modern day invention, but the idea is more than 3,000 years old. As early as 1000 BC, the Chinese used “ice cellars” to preserve foods when warm temperatures replaced the cold winter months. Greeks and Romans made primitive “freezers” by placing compacted snow in insulated cellars.

Many people attribute the development of modern-day freezing to Clarence Birdseye. While living in Labrador, Canada, Birdseye would freeze the fish he caught to keep it fresh. He discovered that “quick freezing” helped frozen foods maintain better flavor, texture and color when they were thawed. The first freezer to use the process, called the “Quick Freeze Machine,” was developed in the late 1920s. In 1930, he marketed the first frozen line of foods that included meats, fish fillets, Blue Point oysters, spinach, peas, fruits and berries.

At first, grocery stores didn’t want to purchase the special equipment needed to store the new frozen foods, and consumers were reluctant to try them. But during World War II, tight restrictions of the use of tin led manufacturers to seek other ways to provide foods for consumers. Soon, frozen foods, which were packaged with paperboard, waxed paper and cellophane, started to replace many canned foods.

The 1950s marked a major milestone in the frozen food industry with the introduction of the frozen food meal, popularly called the TV dinner. These products provided a complete meal in a single package and could be eaten at the dinner table or while sitting in front of another new technology, the television.

Today, frozen foods make up a significant portion of the consumer shopping cart. According to the journal, Meat & Poultry, Americans spent nearly $37 billion on frozen food products last year, accounting for 12 percent of all food and beverage sales in the U.S. Some of the most popular frozen foods are ice cream, pizza and chicken.

Making the Best Frozen Choices

Frozen foods are often a smart choice for many consumers. Fruits and vegetables are picked fresh and then flash frozen to maintain flavor and taste. On the other hand, fresh produce can take a week or two to reach the grocery store, during which they can lose some of the nutritional value and quality. Frozen foods are convenient for time-strapped families because the foods can be quickly heated in a microwave. And they may be more economical for single people or the elderly because they don’t have to prepare and store large meals.

Take a walk down the frozen food aisles in many grocery stores and you’ll find quite a large assortment of frozen foods. Madelyn Fernstrom, Ph.D., Nutritionist/Director of the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center’s Weight Management Center, offers some tips to help consumers choose some of the healthiest selections: Check out the portion size. Some frozen food meals are meant to be shared or come in “super sized” versions. To keep calories in check, avoid meals with labels like, “extra large portions,” “hearty helpings” or Hungry-Man®. For a “family size” entrée, be aware of the number of servings it provides. If an entrée appears to be too small or won’t fill you up, add a healthy side dish, like a salad or small portion of frozen vegetables.

Read the label. As with all packaged foods, the label provides the most important information on nutritional value. Compare calories in different meals and brands. Meals should contain no more than 10 grams of fat and 1000 milligrams of sodium. Be especially careful with kids’ meals. They are packaged to be attractive to kids, but may be low in nutritional quality.

Look for healthy key words on the package. Meals that are labeled as “lean,” “low calorie” or “lite” are likely to contain fewer calories and less fat or cholesterol. If you are watching your salt intake, look for a “low salt” or “low sodium” label.

Try some new foods. There are many “non-meat” options available in the frozen food aisle. A frozen entrée without meat or with a meat substitute is prepared with taste in mind. It’s a good way to experiment with different foods without having to learn how to prepare them from scratch or buying ingredients you’ll only need occasionally.

Health experts recommend limiting purchases of frozen fried foods, like chicken or breaded fish. Even though the products are heated in an oven or microwave, they are still fried before they are frozen and contain high amounts of fat. Even french fries are typically flash fried and then frozen.

If you’re a fan of ice cream, Fernstrom recommends looking for small portions and purchasing something that is either fat-free or sugar-free. She doesn’t recommend ice cream products that are both fat-free and sugar-free because they often don’t have enough flavor to satisfy the palate. And if you’re looking for some frozen fruit, look for products with little or no added sugar.

For general information and tips on purchasing, storing and preparing frozen foods:

American Frozen Food Institute

National Frozen and Refrigerated Foods Association

USDA