The first thing many people do when buying food in the grocery store is look at the label on the back of the can or package at the nutritional values. Below is the nutritional value of tomatoes in a paste and fresh. The following information comes from the USDA1:
Item:
Tomato Paste
No Salt Added
1 tablespoon
16 grams
Tomato Paste
No Salt Added
1/2 cup
131 grams
Cherry Tomatoes
One Cup
149 grams
Calories
13
107
26.8
Protein
0.969 g
5.66 g
1.3g
Carbohydrate
3.03 g
24.77 g
5.8g
Dietary Fiber
0.7 g
5.4 g
1.8g
Sugars
1.95 g
15.96 g
3.9g
Total Fat
0.08 g
0.62 g
0.3g
Saturated Fat
0.02 g
0.13 g
0.0g
Trans Fat
0 g
0 g
0.0g
Cholesterol
0 mg
0 mg
0.0mg
Iron
0.48 mg
3.90 mg
0.4mg
Calcium
6 mg
47 mg
14.9mg
Sodium
16 mg
128 mg
7.5mg
Magnesium
7 mg
55 mg
16.4mg
Potassium
162 mg
1328 mg
353mg
Vitamin A
244 IU
1998 IU
1241IU
Vitamin A
12 RAE
100 RAE
-
Vitamin C
3.5 mg
28.7 mg
18.9mg
Vitamin E
0.69 mg
5.63 mg
0.8mg
Some safety information regarding the use of canned tomato paste:
Discoloration of cans or lids can occur with foods high in acid like tomato paste. The USDA recommends that as long as the can "is in good shape" the food within should be safe to eat. However, foods canned for long periods can lose flavor, texture, and even nutritional value.
Foods from cans that are leaking, badly dented or bulging should NEVER be used.
Any canned food, including tomatoes, that have a foul odor, or spurt liquid when opened should NOT be used, or even tasted. Botulism can be highly toxic!
