What do ready-to-eat meals sold in supermarkets offer? Nutritional content, cost, and beyond

BackgroundThere is a paucity of research on the characteristics of this ever-growing market in Türkiye, where consumer demand has been rapidly increasing. Also, the environmental impact of the packaging materials is another current issue that needs to be focused on for these disposable products.AimThis study aims to analyze and reveal the nutritional contents, costs, and some other characteristics, such as allergenic contents and packaging materials, of the ready-to-eat meals (RTEs) sold in supermarkets in Türkiye.MethodsThe label information of 245 products was noted, and these products were categorized as main dishes, side dishes, and soups; subsequently, their 100 g and portion-based nutritional contents were compared with recommendations.SummaryMain dishes contain higher energy, fat, saturated fat, and proteins when compared to side dishes and soups (p < 0.001). In the side dishes, the amount of fat and protein increases directly with the price. The amount of energy, saturated fat, and protein decreases as the portion weight increases (p < 0.05). The amount of salt in the main and side dish categories is above the limits (+0.3 g and +0.14 g, respectively). Wheat-based gluten was the most common allergen and plastic was found the most commonly used packaging material. The energy contents of the RTEs were found within the recommendations. It is also noteworthy that these products contain higher amounts of salt, and they also contain at least one food allergen.