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Uncooked frozen vegetables

In the body: Frozen vegetables are often only blanched before freezing, not cooked. Health Canada says most frozen packaged vegetables need to be cooked, following the package directions, before you eat them.

Not rated by dose: a flag on 9 reviewed foods, among them raw broccoli, raw spinach and cooked cabbage. The list below has a line for each of 13 preparations.

Pregnancy, babies and young children. Stricter agency advice for these stages of life. Gram figures elsewhere on this site count a 70 kg adult, unadjusted for pregnancy, babies or young children; the advice here is the agency’s own for them.

See also: Uncooked frozen berries

All hazards

The reference value and where it comes from

Reviewed foods that carry it

9 reviewed foods carry it; none is rated by dose. A food counts once, as in the foods list: preparations sharing a page (raw and cooked, canned) count once; one with its own page counts apart. Below, one line for each of 13 preparations.

How often you can eat it

No food here is rated by dose. Each line says why it’s listed: a flag for the people the source names, advice on handling it, or context.

Flags and context, not rated by dose

  • Broccoli, cooked

    Worth knowing

    Health Canada, Food safety for vulnerable populations: foods to avoid · grade A

    How it’s rated

    Don't eat frozen broccoli uncooked if pregnant, 60+, under 5 or immunocompromised

    Intake: not applicable (flag)

    Measured on: life-stage

  • Broccoli, raw

    Worth knowing

    Health Canada, Food safety for vulnerable populations: foods to avoid · grade A

    How it’s rated

    Don't eat frozen broccoli uncooked if pregnant, 60+, under 5 or immunocompromised

    Intake: not applicable (flag)

    Measured on: life-stage

  • Brussels sprouts, cooked

    Worth knowing

    Health Canada, Produce safety · grade A

    How it’s rated

    Health Canada: most frozen packaged vegetables need to be cooked; thawing and eating them could put people at risk of foodborne illness; groups named as most at risk: expectant mothers, children under 5, adults over 60, people with weakened immune systems

    Intake: not applicable (flag)

    Measured on: life-stage

  • Cauliflower, cooked

    Worth knowing

    Health Canada 2026 · grade A

    How it’s rated

    Don't eat frozen cauliflower uncooked if pregnant, 60+, or immunocompromised (Health Canada listeriosis page names frozen packaged vegetables not cooked per directions as higher-risk)

    Intake: not applicable (flag)

    Measured on: life-stage

  • Cauliflower, raw

    Worth knowing

    Health Canada 2026 · grade A

    How it’s rated

    Don't eat frozen cauliflower uncooked if pregnant, 60+, or immunocompromised (Health Canada listeriosis page names frozen packaged vegetables not cooked per directions as higher-risk)

    Intake: not applicable (flag)

    Measured on: life-stage

  • Edamame, cooked

    Worth knowing

    Health Canada, Food safety for vulnerable populations: foods to avoid · grade A

    How it’s rated

    Flagged for pregnancy, older adults and weakened immunity: Health Canada tells these groups to cook frozen vegetables before eating them. Edamame is sold frozen, often blanched; this row is the cooked, prepared form, so the flag applies to eating it straight from the bag without heating.

    Intake: not applicable (flag)

    Measured on: not stated in the draft

  • Green cabbage, cooked

    Worth knowing

    Health Canada, Produce safety · grade A

    How it’s rated

    Health Canada: most frozen packaged vegetables need to be cooked; some produce should be avoided especially by pregnant women, children under 5, adults over 60 and people with weakened immune systems. Cabbage is sold fresh, so this is a flag for a future frozen variant only

    Intake: not applicable (flag)

    Measured on: life-stage; applies to a FROZEN packaged cabbage eaten uncooked, and no frozen variant is listed for this food, so it attaches to neither current row

  • Green peas, frozen

    Worth knowing

    Health Canada, Produce safety · grade A

    How it’s rated

    Cook frozen peas per the package directions; do not just thaw and eat them (Health Canada). Higher-risk groups per PHAC: weakened immune systems, adults 60 and over, pregnant people and newborns

    Intake: not applicable (flag)

    Measured on: life-stage

  • Mustard greens, cooked

    Worth knowing

    Health Canada, Produce safety · grade B

    How it’s rated

    Flag based on Health Canada's produce-safety page: frozen packaged vegetables must be cooked; outbreaks have been linked to uncooked ones; pregnant women and children under 5 are among the higher-risk groups. The advice is for frozen packaged vegetables as a whole, not for mustard greens in particular, hence grade B. It applies only if a frozen listing is added.

    Intake: not applicable (flag)

    Measured on: life-stage (applies only to a frozen listing, which is not loaded)

  • Mustard greens, raw

    Worth knowing

    Health Canada, Produce safety · grade B

    How it’s rated

    Flag based on Health Canada's produce-safety page: frozen packaged vegetables must be cooked; outbreaks have been linked to uncooked ones; pregnant women and children under 5 are among the higher-risk groups. The advice is for frozen packaged vegetables as a whole, not for mustard greens in particular, hence grade B. It applies only if a frozen listing is added.

    Intake: not applicable (flag)

    Measured on: life-stage (applies only to a frozen listing, which is not loaded)

  • Spinach, cooked

    Worth knowing

    Health Canada, Food safety for vulnerable populations: foods to avoid · grade A

    How it’s rated

    Don't eat frozen spinach uncooked if pregnant, 60+, under 5 or immunocompromised

    Intake: not applicable (flag)

    Measured on: life-stage

  • Spinach, raw

    Worth knowing

    Health Canada, Food safety for vulnerable populations: foods to avoid · grade A

    How it’s rated

    Don't eat frozen spinach uncooked if pregnant, 60+, under 5 or immunocompromised

    Intake: not applicable (flag)

    Measured on: life-stage

  • Turnip greens, cooked

    Worth knowing

    Health Canada, Produce safety · grade A

    How it’s rated

    Health Canada: most frozen packaged vegetables need to be cooked; PHAC lists uncooked frozen packaged vegetables among higher-risk foods for listeriosis, naming people with weakened immune systems, adults 60 and over, and pregnant people as most at risk

    Intake: not applicable (flag)

    Measured on: life-stage

Sources