When TV dinners first hit frozen food shelves in grocery stores, people enjoyed the convenience of a quick a hot meal without having to cook it from scratch. Little attention was paid to the nutritional value of these fast food frozen meals, and while most people assumed these foods were healthy, they were usually high in calories, fat, sodium, preservatives and other additives. Based on consumer demand today, many frozen dinners are healthier, but some still contain unhealthy ingredients.
Background
Swanson frozen dinners provided consumers with the first "TV dinner" and coined the phrase in the early 1950s, according to ABC Good Morning America's report on best rated TV dinners. The Banquet brand also helped to pave the way for frozen dinner popularity, which started with the sale of its frozen meat pies in 1953. Banquet soon began to sell its frozen dinners in 1955, according to ConAgra Foods. Both original TV dinner brands continue to sell a variety of convenient frozen meals, with many now targeted to health-conscious consumers. The Nielsen Company reports that now the total sale of frozen convenience meals makes up a $40.3 billion industry, according to "Refrigerated and Frozen Foods."
Choosing Frozen Meals
The trick to selecting healthy frozen dinners is to carefully examine nutrition labels. While many TV dinner packages boast of low calories, the foods inside are often loaded with sodium, fat and harmful preservatives or other additives, such as Monosodium glutamate, or MSG, which can lead to health problems, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Sodium
The average TV dinner may contain higher levels of sodium. Check the nutrition labels for sodium content and take into account recommended daily percentages. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and U.S. Department of Agriculture set standards for sodium content in foods, and in order for individual foods to carry the label "healthy" on packaging, they can't exceed 480 mg of sodium, and meal products can't exceed 600 mg of sodium per serving size," according to the American Heart Association, or AHA.
Fat
Besides watching out for overall fat content in frozen food meals, look out for higher levels of "bad fats," including saturated fats and trans fats. According to the AHA, trans-fatty acids, as well as saturated fat in the diet and dietary cholesterol raise overall blood cholesterol, which often leads to cardiovascular disease.
Banquet Brand
Like many typical TV dinner manufacturers, Banquet sells several types of nutritious and lower calorie frozen meals; however, check for fat and sodium content, unless otherwise specified as reduced fat or sodium. For example, Banquet's Honey Mustard Chicken Dinner is 340 calories with 130 calories from fat and 14 g of total fat at 22 percent of the recommended Daily Value, or DV; 20 mg of cholesterol at 7 percent DV; 750 mg of sodium at 31 percent DV; 400 mg of potassium at 11 percent DV; and 42 g total carbohydrates at 14 percent DV. The Honey Mustard Chicken Dinner also contains 12 g of protein, as well as vitamin C at 2 percent DV; vitamin E at 10 percent DV; thiamine at 4 percent DV; riboflavin at 4 percent DV; niacin at 4 percent DV; folic acid at 10 percent DV; vitamin B12 at 10 percent DV; calcium at 4 percent DV; iron at 10 percent DV; phosphorus at 20 percent DV; magnesium at 10 percent DV; zinc at 4 percent DV; and manganese at 25 percent DV.
Amy's Brand
Amy's brand frozen dinners offer health-conscious consumers an alternative for convenience store-bought foods. Most of Amy's products are made with organic ingredients and without preservatives, additives and high levels of sodium and bad fats. Nevertheless, even organic frozen foods can contain higher levels of sodium or fat. For example, Amy's Black Bean Enchilada Whole Meal contains no trans fat, no added MSG and no preservatives and includes 8 g total fat at 12 percent DV, with 1 g saturated fat at 5 percent DV and 0 g trans fat; 0 mg cholesterol at 0 percent DV; 740 mg sodium at 31 percent DV; 53 g carbohydrates at 18 percent DV; 9 g fiber at 36 percent DV; 9 g protein at 0 percent DV; vitamin A at 20 percent DV; vitamin C at 30 percent DV; calcium at 6 percent DV and iron at 15 percent DV.
References
- ABC Good Morning America: 'Good Housekeeping' Rates Best TV Dinners
- ConAgra Foods: Banquet
- Refrigerated and Frozen Foods: 2010 State of the Industry Report
- MayoClinic.com: Asthma treatment: Do Complementary and Alternative Approaches Work?
- American Heart Association: Sodium
- Amy's: Welcome to Our Kitchen
