Convenience Foods: Exploring Advantages, Disadvantages, and Usage Guidelines

2. What I Will Learn • To explain what a convenience food is and give examples • To state the advantages and disadvantages of convenience foods • To develop a set of guidelines for buying, storing and preserving convenience foods • To evaluate the packaging on convenience foods

3. Class Activity • Look at the pictures you have been given of a variety of foods. Some are fresh and some are convenience. • Divide them up, placing fresh foods to the left and convenience foods to the right. • Identify what type of convenience food each one is and discuss what type of processing is involved. See Activity 17.6 in the TRB

4. What are Convenience Foods? • A number of processed foods are classified as convenience foods, e.g. frozen, canned, bottled, dried, cook-chill and instant or takeaway foods. • Foods partly or totally prepared so they are easier for the consumer to use, saving them time, energy and fuel. • Convenience foods also include fortified, functional and novel protein foods.

5. Advantages of Convenience Foods • Save time and labour, e.g. tinned tomatoes • Reduce fuel costs during cooking, e.g. reheating in microwave • Little cooking skills needed, e.g. frozen meals • Little or no waste, e.g. tinned beans • Often fortified with vitamins and minerals, e.g. milk • Often prepared in portion sizes, e.g. single or two portions, useful for people living alone • Easily stored and transported, e.g. coffee, cocoa • Large variety available, which encourages people to try new products, e.g. almond/soya milk • Consumer demands are catered for, e.g. low-fat foods • Useful for disabled or older people

6. Disadvantages of Convenience Foods • More expensive than homemade products, e.g. soup • Many contain additives such as preservatives, colourings and flavouring • Often low in fibre, which is removed during processing, e.g. white rice • Often high in salt, sugar and fat, e.g. pizza • Inferior taste, colour and texture in comparison to homemade/fresh version, e.g. pasta

7. Classification of Convenience Foods

8. Classification of Convenience Foods

9. Classification of Convenience Foods

10. Classification of Convenience Foods

11. Classification of Convenience Foods

12. Class Activity: Labelling • Working in pairs, examine the food labels you have been given. • Put the labels in order from left to right, starting with the product that has the most food value to the one with the least food value based on the information on the package. • Explain your choices orally.

13. Being Clever with Convenience Foods • Try not to use too many convenience foods, but remember they can be useful when time is short. • Combine them with fresh foods, e.g. cook-chill lasagne with tossed salad. • Use them as part of more complicated recipes to save time and effort, e.g. use passata in pizza or a packet of cheese sauce in a lasagne. • Always cook ready-to-cook meals according to the instructions on the label. • Cook-chill foods must be stored carefully and reheated thoroughly.

14. Class Activity: Being Clever with Convenience Foods Suggest how these convenience foods could be incorporated into a main course dish.

15. Quick Revision Write an informative note on the use of convenience foods in the diet.