John Myers
Ready meals are so healthy
The demand for ready meals is increasing almost constantly. While the consumption of frozen food in Germany was still 40.4 kg per capita in 2010, it rose by more than 6 kg to 46.9 kg per capita in 2019 (source: Statista).
- A basic distinction must be made between “ready meals” and “partly ready meals”. While ready meals are complete, ready-to-eat meals (example: frozen pizza), semi-ready meals are “ready-to-cook” products that facilitate preparation (example: frozen vegetables).
- In order to preserve ready meals and enhance their taste, they contain an above-average amount of salt, sugar, fat, additives, and flavorings. So all ingredients are considered unhealthy. In addition, ready meals also contain hydrogenated fats and trans fats, which are harmful to health in the long term.
- The problem with this is that these substances are often not clearly labeled. The customer is therefore often not aware of how unhealthy his finished product is.
- Another problem that comes with the regular consumption of ready meals is a change in flavors. The high amount of aromas and flavor enhancers give consumers the feeling that the home-cooked food is too bland or doesn’t taste intense enough.
- Frequent consumption of finished products, therefore, trains us to have a taste that is too sweet and too fatty.
- However, not all ready meals can be lumped together. For example, frozen vegetables or fruit often contain more vitamins than fresh goods. The reason: it was shock-frozen immediately after harvesting.
- Conclusion: You can generally use the following rule of thumb as a guide: the more processed a product is, the unhealthier it is. So you can certainly afford a ready-made meal from time to time, but in the long term it cannot keep up with home-cooked meals in terms of health.
