Do ready-to-eat meals of Greek supermarkets need reformulation?

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the nutritional value of ready-to-eat meals available in Greek retail outlets. A total of 228 meals were identified, their nutritional value was registered according to their labels and a comparison was performed against specific nutritional criteria for the macronutrients, per serving. The 183 products were main dishes and 45 were salads and appetisers. The 28.9% of salads and appetisers were within the calorie cut-off point (250Kcal), the 82.2% of them contained more salt than the limit (0.75 g), whereas 22.2% were within the limit of fat (9 g). 72.1% of the main dishes had fewer calories than the cut-off point (600 Kcal), 12.6% of them had less salt than the limit (1.8 g) and 48.1% of them were within the limit for fats (21 g). Companies should reformulate their offered ready-to-eat meals in terms of their fat and salt content in order to provide the consumers with balanced meals.

Keywords:

• Ready-to-eat
• meals
• nutrition
• reformulation
• retail market

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to thank Mrs. Vasiliki Chrysanthakopoulou for the data collection

Disclosure statement

No potential competing interest was reported by the authors

Additional information

Funding

This research is co-financed by Greece and the European Union (European Social Fund- ESF) through the Operational Programme «Human Resources Development, Education and Lifelong Learning» in the context of the project “Strengthening Human Resources Research Potential via Doctorate Research” (MIS-5000432), implemented by the State Scholarships Foundation (ΙΚΥ).