Meal Service Companies: Can they claim “Healthy?”
By Healthy For Life Meals staff
Meal kits and fully prepared meal services are often advertised as a convenient way to have healthy meals at home. But most don’t have the word “healthy” anywhere on their label or in their name. Have you ever wondered why?
Recently our team analyzed meals from eight other meal service companies to take a deep dive specifically into their nutrition content, as well as into their ingredients. Here’s what we found:
There were meals that were probably too low in calories to be considered a complete meal, and other meals that had enough calories for two or three dinners. In some cases, nutrition facts provided by the company were hundreds of calories off from accurate calculations. Some companies’ information wasn’t even “remotely close” to accurate. In some cases it was clear that added salt or oil wasn’t included in the company’s analysis, even though it was mentioned in the ingredients.
Additionally, with most companies we found incomplete ingredients lists on the meal labels. “Sub-ingredients” were blatantly missing, resulting in the ingredients lists appearing “cleaner” (shorter) than they actually are. For example, an ingredient such as Dijon mustard should appear on a label including its sub-ingredients as follows: Dijon mustard (Water, Vinegar, Mustard Seed, Salt, White Wine, Fruit Pectin, Sugar, Spice). However, in many cases we found companies omitting all the sub-ingredients completely.
Across all companies we found sodium content to be higher than recommended levels in many meals – sometimes as high as two to three times daily recommendations in just a single meal. The same held true for total fat and saturated fat, as well as for protein. Additionally, we found the use of artificial ingredients such as sweeteners and colors in many instances.
Across the board, we found the use of a variety of fresh vegetables and fruits to be lacking, and a dietary fiber content lower than most experts’ recommendations.
Use of the word “Healthy” on food labels, as well as the use of many other specific health or nutrition claims, is defined by the FDA and requires strict adherence. To claim a meal is “healthy,” nutrition content needs to meet very specific guidelines and be accurately reported/labeled. Healthy For Life Meals not only meets the guidelines that allow us to use the word “Healthy” in our name on every meal, we also meet Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) regulatory requirements of the USDA, which the majority of meal services do not. In fact, the majority of meals and meal kits produced by this industry are typically prepared and packed without FSIS inspection under what’s called the “retail exemption.”
Healthy For Life Meals is in fact one of the very few meal services in the country that follows these strict nutrition guidelines and food safety & labeling requirements. We take your health seriously, and as crowded and complex as the meal service industry is, we remain fully committed to nutrition, transparency, food quality, and food safety.
Healthy is in our name by design, and we stand behind it.