Is packaged food unhealthy?

Many consumers think that packaged foods are unhealthy.
Ready meals and pre-packed food have a bad reputation as many people believe they consist of too much fat, salt and sugar. Is it always the worse choice to feed your family with ready meals?
Actually, it’s not the unhealthiest option!

According to a study by Oxford University, Great Britain is on top of the worldwide poll for the most nutritious packaged food compared to 12 countries, including Australia, Canada, Chile, China, India, Hong Kong, Mexico, New Zealand, Slovenia, South Africa, the UK, and the USA.

The researchers found out that packaged foods, including ready meals, meat alternatives and seafood alternatives produced in the UK had the lowest levels of sugar, salt and fat.

They compared the healthiness of packaged foods and beverages between selected countries using the Health Star Rating (HSR) nutrient profiling system.
Food researcher and study author Dr Elizabeth Dunford said: “Globally, we’re all eating more processed foods and that’s a concern because our supermarket shelves are full of products that are potentially making us sick because they are high in bad fats, sugar and salt.”

“But our results show that Britain is doing a much better job than other countries when it comes to pre-packaged foods.”