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Our nutritionist tests a range of frozen products, from pizzas and chips to curries and fish goujons for taste and health
Frozen foods have an image problem – or rather, they used to. A survey carried out before the pandemic by The Grocer found that one in three Britons were frozen food snobs, believing them to be inferior to fresh; ultra-processed, low-quality convenience foods for when you can’t be bothered to cook. Indeed the average frozen pizza is not exactly a health food, being high in saturated fat and salt, and stuffed with UPF additives.
But it seems we’ve had a change of heart when it comes to the freezer aisle. In the last year alone, frozen foods sales increased by 15 per cent.
From a health perspective, if you steer clear of the more ultra-processed offerings, you’ll find plenty of gems in the freezer section that are better value and, in some instances, more nutritious than their fresh counterparts. Laura Clark, a registered dietitian, is a fan.
“Frozen foods such as vegetables are often frozen at source which means they retain maximum nutritional value and are a more nutritious choice than vegetables that have been hanging around in the bottom of your fridge for a week,” she says. “They’re also often cheaper and can help diets stay more diverse in busy weeks when we’re lacking time or inspiration.”
So, let’s test some of the nation’s favourite frozen foods to see which ones we should fill our freezers with and which ones we should leave out in the cold.
Nutritional information for saturated fat, sugar and salt are given as per the national traffic light food labelling guidelines. Products are rated per serving as follows :
So, what can we take away from this frozen foods test? Certainly, they can be a real boon in the kitchen, saving you both time and money. Most were relatively low in saturated fat, sugar, or salt per 100g, but the recommended portion size for each product does vary.
Frozen vegetables were the real freezer heroes – cheaper, full of flavour and frozen when fresh to lock in all the lovely micronutrients. Clark agrees: “I always buy frozen spinach and edamame beans, both of these things can be put straight into dishes without the need to defrost first so they’re super quick and such an easy way to boost the fibre content of a meal.”
Other than frozen vegetables, it’s a case of checking the ingredients and avoiding products with unfamiliar additives, which usually indicates an ultra-processed food.
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