Study: Frozen Meal Eaters Get More Vegetables But With Lower Total Calories

01 May 2014 --- New analysis of data from the 2003-2010 What We Eat In America (WWEIA) National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a program of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), indicates that consumers of frozen meals (1) compared to consumers of quick service restaurant (QSR) meals (2) had lower calorie intakes and better Healthy Eating Index (HEI) score.

In fact, the analysis revealed that those who consumed frozen meals consumed 253 fewer calories than those who consumed a quick service restaurant meal.

These results were presented at a scientific poster session at the Experimental Biology Conference (EB) April 26-30, 2014.

"The analysis shows consumers of frozen meals come a little closer to meeting Dietary Guidelines for Americans than consumers of quick service restaurant meals, and they do it with 253 fewer calories a day," said Dr. Victor L. Fulgoni, co-author of the analysis and vice president of Nutrition Impact, LLC.

Specifically, the analysis revealed that those who consumed frozen meals, when compared to those who consumed QSR meals, had significantly:
•lower calorie intake (2073±51 kcal/d frozen meal consumers vs 2326±20 QSR consumers)
•higher total Healthy Eating Index (HEI) score (53.0±1.5 frozen meal consumers vs 44.4±0.4 QSR consumers)
•higher intakes of total vegetables (3.4±0.1 frozen meal consumers vs 2.9±0.03 QSR consumers)
•higher intakes of greens and beans (1.7±0.2 frozen meal consumers vs 0.9±0.04 QSR consumers)
•higher intakes of whole grains (2.9±0.3 frozen meal consumers vs 1.8±0.1 QSR consumers)
•higher intakes of total protein foods (4.4±0.1 frozen meal consumers vs 4.1±0.03 QSR consumers)
•lower intakes of refined grains (6.6±0.4 frozen meal consumers vs 5.4±0.1 QSR consumers)
•lower intakes of empty calories (13.1±0.5 frozen meal consumers vs 9.9±0.2 QSR consumers)

"We are excited about the results of this study as it shows that frozen meals can play an important role in helping Americans meet the US Dietary Guidelines," said Kim Krumhar, Ph.D., Scientific Advisor – Nutrition, Nestlé.

The Healthy Eating Index (HEI) is a benchmark to evaluate the quality of calories consumed, and is recognized as a measure of diet quality in terms of conformance to Federal dietary guidance. It is used to monitor the quality of American diets; to examine relationships between diet and health-related outcomes and between diet cost and diet quality; to determine the effectiveness of nutrition intervention programs; and to assess the quality of food assistance packages, menus, and the U.S. food supply.

(1) Defined consumption of any of 91 specific frozen meals
(2) Defined as obtaining meals from "restaurant fast food/pizza"