Where Do Supermarket Meals Actually Come From?
Dishes on the ready-to-eat counter at your local supermarket may look and taste good, but it is difficult to know what exactly you are buying.
Ready-made salads, pasta dishes, and even grilled chicken can be made quickly and easily, but there are a few things you need to know, according to Consumer Reports’ Katherine Hobson. When Consumer Reports compared several prepared meals from stores such as Whole Foods, Wegmans, Cosco, and The Fresh Market, they found excessive sodium in almost every meal they tested. And the chances are that the “freshly cooked” meatloaf or other meals were prepared off-site (possibly with processed, packaged foods) and then reheated in the supermarket kitchen.
Plus, supermarkets are not yet required to provide you with nutritional information for cooked foods (the FDA will change this soon). Consumer Reports also found a few cases where the ingredients were not listed or the main ingredients were not mentioned in ready-made meals (so be careful if you have allergies).
All in all, while grabbing some food from the convenience store in the supermarket may be better than the fast food combo lunch, it’s probably not that fresh or wholesome either. And this is especially not ideal for those who want to eat fewer processed foods, because you can never tell which is which. The only way to make sure the food is right for your diet and is freshly prepared is to prepare it yourself. You can read more about their research at the link below.
Ready meals in the supermarket: what to look for | Consumer reports