Frozen, ready-to-eat meals are definitely a hot trend. Consumers want quick, simple meals that fit into busy schedules as they find themselves dedicating less time to meal preparation. In fact, it’s quite common for a typical dinner to be prepared in 20 minutes or less. Food manufacturers have responded to the demand and grocery stores are now stocked full of time-saving products.

The flash-freezing method used in producing frozen dinners keeps ice crystal formation and loss of nutritional value to a minimum. With such a vast array of options, you’ll be sure to find flavours that satisfy your taste buds. Convenience meals also come in a variety of sizes. Using family-sized versions can put a meal on the table with minimum planning and effort, while individual-sized versions have the added benefit of helping to manage portion sizes. Each serving provides close to 300 calories, which is similar to the calorie content of a light lunch. 

Despite the relief these frozen items provide, there can be a nutritional as well as financial cost for convenience. Many of these time-saving dishes are packed full of fat and sodium. In fact, some servings provide as much as 60 % of the recommended daily amount of saturated fat and more than half of a day’s sodium recommendation. That’s incredibly high for a small volume of food. Also, take a closer look and you’ll notice that many of these dinners provide less than a full serving of vegetables (125 mL or ½ cup cooked). Although convenience may help satisfy the appetite, it doesn’t always support healthier eating habits.

To better balance a meal when using these frozen convenience items, add other food choices from the food groups of Canada’s Food Guide to Healthy Eating. For example, you can add fresh, frozen, or canned vegetables to increase nutritional value, or add a small whole grain roll or whole wheat pita. 

Don’t forget to look at the food label; it’s your link to making healthier choices.  Labels are now easier to read because of Health Canada’s new mandatory regulations.   Look for nutrition claims on the front of the package like “low fat” or “lower in sodium”.  Or, you might spot one of the special logos that companies are using to guide consumers’ choices. Look for Blue Menu from President’s Choice^™, Health Check^™ from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, and Smart Spot^™ from Pepsico. You may also check the Nutrition Facts table, which provides additional information on the nutritional value of the product. Use Percent Daily Value (% DV) when comparing products. It’s a rating between 0-100% that helps determine if there is a little or a lot of a nutrient based on the recommended daily amount. When nutrients like fat and sodium are rated at more than 50%, it means you will receive more than half of the daily recommendation for those nutrients in that food serving. Therefore, choose meals with fat and sodium ratings above 50% less often.

Nutritionally speaking, it’s fine to use convenience meals some of the time.  Remember to balance out the meal with other foods to add more value and use the nutrition information on the label to make healthy choices.

Written by a Natalia DeAmicis RD, as published in the Windsor Star, April 2006.