POSH ready meals which have far higher fat content than cheaper alternatives are a recipe for obesity, health experts say.
Upmarket frozen meals from brands such as Cook and Charlie Bigham, sold by Waitrose, often have twice as much fat per 100g than Tesco and Sainsbury’s dinners.
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Of the five dishes analysed, COOK and Charlie Bigham had a higher proportion of fat and salt than supermarket brands every time.
COOK’s 350g roasted vegetable lasagne costs £4.50. In one portion it has 42g of fat – far more than half the recommended daily allowance of 70g.
Per 100g, the lasagne has 11.9g of fat per 100g and 0.77g of salt. That is more than four times as much fat per 100g as the Sainsbury’s and Tesco alternatives.
The Sainsbury’s vegetable lasagne has 2.8g of fat per 100g and the Tesco dish has 1.7g. They are both also far cheaper, costing £2 and £1.75 respectively, and both have less salt.
HIGH-SATURATES
COOK’s dinner also has 6.6g of saturated fat per 100g, which the NHS classes as a high-saturates product.
One portion of the luxury lasagne has a whopping 23.1g of saturated fat – well above the recommended daily intake for an adult of 20g.
Charlie Bigham’s 730g vegetable lasagne also has a much higher proportion of fat than Sainsbury’s and Tesco meals.
Tam Fry, chairman of the National Obesity Forum, slammed the ready meal manufacturers.
He said: “It is well known that a lot of consumers don’t bother to read the labels on ready made meals or don’t understand them.
“If they did, and also really worried about their health, they would be giving these products a wide berth.”
Dietician Clare-Thornton Wood said: “Many of those in what might be considered the premium category are amongst the highest scoring in terms of fat, sugar, salt and calories.
“The premium products often contain butter and cream, presumably for flavour, but there are other healthier options that could be substituted with olive oil, reduced fat creme fraiche or mascarpone.”
BALANCED DIET
Charlie Bigham, founder of the ready meal company, said: “Intended to be enjoyed as part of a balanced diet, our meals offer the perfect solution to a night off from cooking without having to compromise on taste and quality.
“We believe this is what our consumers are looking for as they often get in touch to say how much they appreciate our unique approach to pre-prepared food.
“Across our full range over 50 different recipes, all our ingredients and nutritional values are clearly labelled on pack and on our website to allow consumers to make an informed choice.”
A spokeswoman for COOK said its ready meals are not made for eating every day.
She explained: “Our whole ethos is about cooking like you do at home and that means some dishes are more indulgent than others.
“We’re not really looking at what’s in supermarket ready meals.
“And the wonderful thing about on-pack nutritional labelling is that this is completely transparent so customers can make the right choice for them.
“We also have a large Love Eating Well range, which means that each dish is 600 calories or below and less than a third of an adults daily intake of salt, fat and sugar.”
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