Lower Energy-Dense Ready Meal Consumption Affects Self-Reported Appetite Ratings with No Effect on Subsequent Food Intake in Women

Slimming World (SW), a commercial weight management organisation, has designed a range of low energy-dense ready meals (LEDRMs) in line with their programme. This randomised crossover study compared commercially available equicaloric ready meals differing in energy density on satiety and food intake. It was hypothesised that the LEDRM would reduce energy intake (EI) whilst increasing fullness and reducing hunger compared to higher energy-dense ready meal (HEDRM, control). A total of 26 female participants (aged 18–65 years; body mass index of 28.8 ± 3.0 kg·m−2) attended two test days. The participants ate a standard breakfast, and four hours later, ate either a LEDRM or HEDRM at lunch. EI was measured four hours later at an ad libitum tea. Satiety measurements were recorded throughout the day using visual analogue scales and a weighed food diary was completed for the remainder of the day. The results revealed that the LEDRM reduced hunger and increased fullness (both p < 0.001). There was no difference in EI at the evening meal between the ready meals (p > 0.05), however, during the whole LEDRM testing day, the participants consumed significantly less fat (7.1%) and saturated fat (3.6%) (both p < 0.01), but significantly more carbohydrates, sugars, fibre, protein, and salt (all p < 0.01). The results indicate that the participants felt more satiated after consuming ready meals of the same energy content but larger portion size. Despite no significant difference in short-term EI between the ready meals, the results indicated that the LEDRM produced beneficial subjective satiety responses and, therefore, can help to improve the nutritional content of meals i.e., reduce saturated fat consumption.

Microwave treatment for improved quality and safety of dehydrated pitted apricots

Dehydrated pitted apricots are widely used as a ready meal ingredient, which renders control of their quality and safety a relevant issue. Pitted apricots are rich in sugars, moisture and organic acids that serve a good medium for microorganisms. Therefore, these products require presale processing. Microwave treatment proved effective for the processing of raw and finished food products. Its impact on microorganisms depends on variant criteria, including taxonomic affiliation, total counts, dielectric cell properties and the treatment dose. The research aimed to study death kinetics in the native dried apricot surface microflora and its growth during subsequent storage. In this respect, we have studied the microwave treatment impact on dried apricot surface microflora depending on treatment dose and determined the residual microflora growth rate during subsequent storage. The doses of 120, 180 and 240 kJ at a 200 W radiation power have been shown to reduce baseline contamination of dehydrated pitted apricots by three orders of magnitude. Statistical kinetics analyses demonstrated a retarded surface microflora growth during subsequent storage. Microwave doses of 120–240 kJ (accounting for ±0.4 lg CFU/g error) exhibited a similar microflora dynamics in subsequent storage. The exposure of dried apricots to a lowest microwave field of 120 kJ ensured stability of the product microbiological dynamics.

Impulse aus der Sterneküche

Beim Take away-Geschäft ist der Lebensmittelhandel nicht allein. Auch Gastronomen, Cateringunternehmer und Spitzenköche bieten längst Ready-Meal-Konzepte auf hohem Qualitätsniveau für regionale Communities und sogar deutschlandweit an. Silke Liebig-Braunholz

An investigation into the vitamin B1 and B2 content of a popular UK ready meal.

Ready meals (RMs) are a convenient meal option, and it is assumed that they can be part of a balanced diet. Research has shown that energy, fat and salt content of RMs are “nutritionally chaotic”(Celnik et al., 2012), with many meals being significantly under- or overestimated in the labelling.However, to our knowledge, no research has analysed the nutritional content of RMs in relation to labile water-soluble vitamins undergoing food processing, such as vitamin B1 or B2. Accurate estimations of certain water-soluble vitamins is important to understand whether RMs contribute sufficient amounts of these essential vitamins to the diet to meet the nutrient requirements for those who consistently consume RMs.The ‘sausage and mash’ range of RM is one of the most popular RMs eaten by meals-on-wheels users and purchased in supermarkets. The aim of this study is to compare process-labile vitamin content; vitamin B1 and B2, in sausage and mash RMs, and carry out price comparison between meals.Sausage and mash RMs from five RM suppliers were analysed in duplicate. Following derivatisation of Vitamin B1, both vitamin B1 and B2 were analysed with fluorescent detection using HPLC. All food samples were tested in triplicate. Kruskal-Wallis test was carried out to compare vitamin content between RMs from different RM providers. Pearsons correlation tested relationships between meal composition and RM price.RMs significantly differed between providers where vitamin B1(x2 = 8.073, p < 0.05) and B2(x2 = 7.964, p < 0.05) content was between 1.05–3.73mg/serving and 0.033–0.098mg/serving, respectively. The price of the RMs ranged between £2.00-£3.50. Analysis showed that cheaper meals had a higher thiamine content (r = -0.675, p < 0.001), which could be due to the presence of green peas; a source of thiamine, in one of the cheaper RMs. Results showed that the percentage(%) of meat/serving was higher in the more expensive meals (r = 0.603, p < 0.001), and the cheaper meals had a higher percentage of mashed potatoes(r = -0.837, p < 0.001).This study shows that there are differences in vitamin B1 and B2 between RM providers. This may mean that consumers are not aware of which meals may be the most nutritionally adequate. Price of meal has an impact on composition and therefore nutrient density. Future studies should analyse other process labile essential vitamins such as vitamin C and other B-group vitamins to establish accurate estimations of water-soluble vitamin content in RMs.

Recent surge of ready meals in South Korea: can they be healthy alternatives?

Objective:The present study analysed and compared the nutritional qualities of private brand (PB) and national brand (NB) ready meal (RM) products in South Korea.Design:Data on RM products were collected via a food information database (EatSight) between February and May of 2017. A total of ninety-one PB products from a leading discount store chain in South Korea and 415 NB products were selected and divided into four main categories of ‘refrigerated soups/stews’, ‘refrigerated noodles’, ‘frozen rice/noodles’ and ‘frozen dumplings’. Nutritional information was extracted for each product and analyses were performed to compare nutritional differences.Setting:South Korea.Participants:A total of 506 RM products.Results:PB products explained the highest percentage of refrigerated RM products while NB products occupied the highest percentage of frozen ones. Notably, main PB and NB products showed evident nutritional problems. Among PB products, refrigerated soups/stews were significantly higher in energy, fat, Na, saturated fat and trans-fat. Likewise, in the case of NB products, frozen rice/noodles were significantly higher in Na and saturated fat. Particularly, overall Na contents were high. When the Korean guidance on traffic-light labelling was applied, a mere 0·2 and 5·9 % of total RM products showed all four and three green lights, respectively. Meanwhile, those with no green lights accounted for 42·3 %.Conclusions:Although it is difficult to draw a definitive conclusion on the comparative nutritional qualities due to the lack of consistency in the results, the study suggests that there is room to improve the nutritional qualities of overall RM products.