Bad test results for ready meals

Ready to eat unhealthily not cheaper than fresh ingredients

07.11.2012

Ready meals are the most commonly used food preparations in households. A study by the Austrian Chamber of Labor showed that most finished meals contain too much fat, salt and sugar. Instead, self-cooking is healthier and cheaper.

So-called convenience food („comfortable food“) is mainly used by consumers who, due to their professional life, have little time for cooking or who have never really learned how to cook on their own. The consumer advocates of the Upper Austrian Chamber of Labor cooked ten commercially available ready meals and came to a surprising conclusion: „All ready meals came more expensive than the fresh preparation. And the time required for cooking alone was only 15 to 45 minutes.“

Fresh cooking usually means a certain amount of time. The fresh ingredients must be bought, vegetables, fish or meat washed, cut and cooked. That's why many people like to eat. The dishes are quickly bought and warmed up.

Too much salt, sugar, fat and flavorings
But a big disadvantage of finished products are the ingredients. In addition to a lot of salt, many products contain too much fat and sugar and therefore tend to make you fat. Anyone who often intervenes to finish off the discounter, influenced by the high salt, sugar, artificial flavor and fat content his taste. It usually enters a kind of habituation effect. In addition, ready-to-serve meals lead to a one-sided diet and in some cases can lead to insufficient supply of vitamins and minerals. Some containing additives can cause health problems for some people suffering from a food allergy, for example.

Even parents like to access the ready-made food. But the portions are usually too big for the little ones, which is why the oversupply of food can also promote obesity and obesity. From an ecological point of view, ready meals cause more waste. The products tested in the study were packed in plastic trays. Those who pay attention to their own cooking usually cause less waste.

The consumer advocates cooked a total of ten final meals and compared the ingredients of the dishes and prices. For example, there were dishes like „Gnocchi in ham and cheese sauce with broccoli“ , „Creamed with spaetzle“ or „Rice meat with chicken pieces“. The testers cooked all the dishes with fresh ingredients and then compared the results.

Healthy, delicious and little effort
Consumers were surprised by the short preparation times of the fresh variants. These amounted to a maximum of 45 minutes, some even only 15 minutes. „And even the popular argument of people from small households, ready meals are cheaper than their freshly cooked alternatives, did not withstand the test: all selected ready meals could be boiled cheaper, even if only one portion was prepared.“, so the consumer initiative.

In trade, for example, the court cost „Minced patties with potato puree and vegetables“ 4,49 euros. The dish was not cheaper than the fresh variant and cost even 1.90 euros more. Accordingly, the arguments of time and cost are by no means decisive for finished meals. (Sb)

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Image: KFM