marks and spencers ready made meals

timetogetfit

What do you think of the ready made meals in marks and spencers they look really healthy and there only 400 cals and there packed with protein and veg however the only draw back is some of them of a bit of sugar but im not sure if this is natural or process variety?

rubadub

All the info is right there on the pack. The ingredients are listed in order of greatest. If no sugar or other sneaky sugars (glucose syrup etc) are mentioned then it is natural.

If you have a pack in your house type up the ingredients list in the right order, then put the values per 100g down too.

If the ingredients is too long, or proves difficult too type out(i.e. unknown big words) then it is probably loaded with crap!

If you do go to the bother I will do my best to comment on it. I like analyzing info on packets, to see what tricks they are using.

Maybe we could have a sticky about how to read nutritional info on packets, could give examples of real products, break them down, expose the many tricks that manufacturers use, and what to watch out for.

Lockstep

rubadub wrote: »

Maybe we could have a sticky about how to read nutritional info on packets, could give examples of real products, break them down, expose the many tricks that manufacturers use, and what to watch out for.

+1 from me.

Excellent idea.

g'em

rubadub wrote: »

Maybe we could have a sticky about how to read nutritional info on packets, could give examples of real products, break them down, expose the many tricks that manufacturers use, and what to watch out for.

No better man to write it either...

dudara

Watch out for salt labelling. Some manufacturers use Sodium content, as opposed to salt, to make the salt content appear lower.

Check out Safefood for further information.

maradona10

Has anyone got any opinions on these meals? Ive tried a few and they seem grand but im not sure where they source their ingredients especially the meat. They seem ideal for post exercise meals for busy people.

Críochnaithe

Right, can I give the list from a M&S Cajun Chicken Fettucine. i've had it a few times as a treat and it's gorgeous!
Cooked egg pasta 38% (contains Water, durum wheat, semolina, pasteurised free range egg, dried spinach)
Cooked marinated chicken breast 15% (contains chicken (80%), water, chilli sauce (contains water, vinegar, red chillies, salt, sugar, cornflour), ground cumin, cornflour, oregano, thyme, dried garlic, paprika extract, black pepper, lemon juice)
Tomatoes 14%
Water
Semi-skimmed milk
Onions
Single cream 2%
Parmesan cheese 2%
Tomato paste
Cheddar cheese
Cornflour
Salt
Olive Oil
Dijon mustard (contains water, mustard seeds, vinegar, salt)
Sugar
Basil
Balsamic Vinegar
Garlic Puree
Gelling agent: Pectin
Jalapeno Chilli
Peppers
Oregano
Black pepper
Dried Red chillies
Ground Bay


Confused? This is after doing my head in!

Anyway, to continue with nutritional information per pack
Energy 380 KCal
Protein 32g
Carbohydrate 10.8g
of which sugars 2.4g
Fat 8.0g
of which saturates 4.0g
Fibre 11.6g
Sodium 0.80g
Equivalent as salt 2.00g

fatal

Críochnaithe wrote: »

Right, can I give the list from a M&S Cajun Chicken Fettucine. i've had it a few times as a treat and it's gorgeous!
Cooked egg pasta 38% (contains Water, durum wheat, semolina, pasteurised free range egg, dried spinach)
Cooked marinated chicken breast 15% (contains chicken (80%), water, chilli sauce (contains water, vinegar, red chillies, salt, sugar, cornflour), ground cumin, cornflour, oregano, thyme, dried garlic, paprika extract, black pepper, lemon juice)
Tomatoes 14%
Water
Semi-skimmed milk
Onions
Single cream 2%
Parmesan cheese 2%
Tomato paste
Cheddar cheese
Cornflour
Salt
Olive Oil
Dijon mustard (contains water, mustard seeds, vinegar, salt)
Sugar
Basil
Balsamic Vinegar
Garlic Puree
Gelling agent: Pectin
Jalapeno Chilli
Peppers
Oregano
Black pepper
Dried Red chillies
Ground Bay


Confused? This is after doing my head in!

Anyway, to continue with nutritional information per pack
Energy 380 KCal
Protein 32g
Carbohydrate 10.8g
of which sugars 2.4g
Fat 8.0g
of which saturates 4.0g
Fibre 11.6g
Sodium 0.80g
Equivalent as salt 2.00g

That actually sounds delish!!!
Its good that this thread was posted actually.Many a time when im in a hurry I often eat anything but ready made meals.I just assume that ALL are full of crap.I don't know much about them so it will be interesting to see if there are any which aren't all that bad.
The one above sounds alot better than most stereotypical ready made meals.One rather obvious thing is that it's quite high in salt-2grams!Would it be possible that additives and flavouring are used,but because they account for less than a certain % they don't have to be mentioned in the ingredients?I heard somewhere that is the reason why coca cola get away with not having to mention what the "secret" ingredient is.

rubadub

fatal wrote: »

Would it be possible that additives and flavouring are used,but because they account for less than a certain % they don't have to be mentioned in the ingredients?

If a product is free from additives and artificial flavourings they are usually shouting about it on the packet, if not I presume they have it.

The salt content is a common scam I see. Ingredients are listed in order of greatest. Cornflour is above salt, so you might presume there is more cornflour than salt. But not necessarily. Salt is listed 3 times on the list.

Chicken breast is listed as 15%, but only 80% of that is chicken so really there is only 12% chicken in it.

Reads pretty good to me shame so very few ready meals use wholemeal pasta or rice. Dunno why that is, especially when they all tout them as "healthy".

I would expect M&S might not use additives, tesco have a new sort of healthy/natural range now, other than the "healthy living" range (which has since changed names), the newish range is ready meals, fresh, not frozen.