"TV Chef" recipes are less healthy than "ready meals"
Seriously. According to a BMJ study by the NHS and Newcastle University that compared recipes from books by Jamie Oliver, Lorraine Pascale, Nigella Lawson, and Hugh Fearnley Whittingstall against supermarket "ready to eat" meals. The results? No recipe or ready meal fully complied with the WHO recommendations. The ready meals were more likely to comply with the recommended proportions of energy derived from carbohydrate (18% v 6%, P=0.01) and sugars (83% v 81%, P=0.05) and fibre density (56% v 14% P<0.01). The recipes were more likely to comply with the recommended sodium density (36% v 4%, P<0.01), although salt used for seasoning was not assessed. The distributions of traffic light colours under the FSA’s food labelling recommendations differed: the modal traffic light was red for the recipes (47%) and green for ready meals (42%). Overall, the recipes contained significantly more energy (2530 kJ v 2067 kJ), pro...