Many of us struggle to find the time to cook our dinner from scratch every day and often rely on a quick fix ready meal from our local supermarket.
But shocking new research reveals some of the tasty ‘meals for one’ that we thought were a better option than greasy fast food can actually be more fattening and seriously high in calories.
Experts at YorkTest Laboratories analysed the nutritional content of all 528 ready meals sold by the five major UK supermarkets – Morrisons, Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s, and Waitrose.
Morrisons’ Pancetta Carbonara from its ‘The Best’ range topped the charts for both highest saturated fat content and overall fat content
It revealed cheesy pasta dishes as the least healthy, with Morrisons dishes proving the worst offenders.
The supermarket’s Pancetta Carbonara from its ‘The Best’ range topped the charts for both highest saturated fat content and overall fat content.
At 49.3g of fat per pack, it’s the equivalent of gorging on two McDonald’s Big Macs.
Meanwhile go-to comfort food Macaroni Cheese also features prominently in the ‘worst of’ lists for fat content and calories, prompting experts to urge Brits to limit their intake.
Morrisons’ Slow Cooked Lamb Shank with Mint Gravy contains the highest amount of calories per 100g at 221kcal
Three products in the top 10 run-down of highest saturated fat content were Mac ‘N’ Cheese dishes, and there were six different Mac ‘N’ Cheese dishes in the top 10 worst list for calories per 100g.
And it’s not just pasta and cheese dishes that come in for criticism.
Morrisons’ Slow Cooked Lamb Shank with Mint Gravy contains the highest amount of calories per 100g at 221kcal, followed by Asda’s Extra Special Mac ‘N’ Cheese, at 213kcal.
Sainsbury’s Duck In Plum Sauce contains the most amount of sugar, with 8.9g of sugar per 100g and 38.7g overall – while a 500ml bottle of Coke contains only 27g.
And Morrisons’ Traditional All Day Breakfast has the highest salt content – 1.04g per 100g.
The NHS sets out a person’s ‘daily reference intakes’ – the maximum amount of calories and nutrients you should eat in a day.
They recommend for adults a maximum calorie input of 2,000kcal, less than 70g of fat, less than 20g of saturated fat, total sugars of 90g, and less than 6g of salt.
Morrisons’ Pancetta Carbonara, from its ‘The Best’ range, contains 26g of saturated fat – smashing through the daily 20g limit.
At 770 calories overall, Asda’s Extra Special Pulled BBQ Beef Mac ‘N’ Cheese contains more calories than two-and-a-half six-inch chicken tikka sandwiches from fast-food outlet Subway.
Go-to comfort food Macaroni Cheese also features prominently in the ‘worst of’ lists for fat content and calories. This one from Asda contained the second most amount of calories per 100g
At 770 calories overall, Asda’s Extra Special Pulled BBQ Beef Mac ‘N’ Cheese contains more calories than two-and-a-half six-inch chicken tikka sandwiches from fast-food outlet Subway
Morrisons’ All Day Breakfast was shown to contain the most amount of salt per 100g of the ready meals sampled
Nutritionist Ali Orr, a representative for the UK food intolerance testing firm who conducted the research, said: ‘It’s easy to see the appeal of an effort-free ready meal.
‘And it’s perfectly fine to enjoy the convenience from time-to-time. But it will most certainly not be good for you in the long run if you make a habit of it.
‘Saturated fats are usually added to ready meals in order to increase their flavour and consistency, and they’re particularly found in cheesy dishes.
‘If you have a diet high in saturated fats, it can raise cholesterol levels and may lead to a higher risk of stroke or heart attack.’
She added: ‘Salt consumed in excess may contribute to high blood pressure, inflammation and possibly degenerative diseases – if also combined with an unhealthy diet overall.
‘Food manufacturers are under constant scrutiny to make their convenience food as healthy as it can be, but the fact that taste is often removed when fat is removed means that sugar content can be higher than dieticians and, of course, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) would like.’
Sainsbury’s’ Duck in Plum Sauce contained the highest amount of sugar per 100g of the ready meals tested
While not all fats are bad, with omega-3 fats from oily fish, nuts and seeds proving beneficial, saturated fats are deeply unhealthy.
We also need salt in our diets, but Ali recommends opting for natural, unprocessed sea salts or Himalayan pink salt to get a healthy balance of electrolytes.
‘My advice would be to eat ready meals sparingly, and instead learn how to cook simple dinners which you can then store in your freezer and use at your convenience,’ she said.
It’s not just unhealthy food that could cause a bad reaction in your body.
‘An underlying food intolerance could be to blame too, causing reactions such as bloating, tiredness and migraines.
It can be difficult to pinpoint exactly what ingredients are causing unpleasant symptoms,’ Ali said.
‘Ready meals usually have a long list of ingredients too, making it even more difficult to identify your intolerances.
‘Taking a food intolerance test with a credible firm can eliminate the guesswork.’