Ready meals are increasingly available food choices in supermarkets of developed countries. The purpose of this study was to determine the nutritional content and cost of chilled and frozen ready meals in the Greek market and compare vegetarian with meat/fish-based options.
Data available from the label of the packaged products including price (Euros), serving size (g), total energy (kcal), protein (g), carbohydrate (g), sugar (g), salt (g), fat (g), saturated fat (g) and fibre (g) content, was extracted from the food labels accessible from the website of 8 major supermarkets. Eligible ready meals were main courses with a minimum net weight of 150 g per item. Data was collected over a period of 4 months. In total, 190 meals were included in the study, which were grouped as vegetarian (n = 67) and meat/fish-based (n = 123).
Meat/fish-based products were more expensive to purchase than vegetarian options with median prices determined at 5.5 euros and 3.3 euros per item respectively. Macronutrients, energy density and salt content (per 100 g of food) was higher for meat/fish-based products, except for fibre. Overall, only 6% and 7% of vegetarian and meat/fish-based meals respectively met the nutritional criteria set for all nutrients. In conclusion, vegetarian ready meal products are cheaper and more nutritionally balanced options compared with the meat/fish-based ones.
This study provides guidance for: (a) public health interventions focusing on consumers’ purchasing and eating behaviours and (b) product reformulation for the prevention of non-communicable diseases.
