Are meal kits health promoting? Nutritional analysis of meals from an Australian meal kit service

Abstract

Summary Meal kits are popular for consumers seeking greater convenience in preparing meals at home. The market share for meal kit subscription services (MKSSs) is growing in developed nations including Australia, however, literature about their health promoting qualities, e.g. nutritional composition, is scarce. This study aimed to assess the characteristics and nutritional composition of meals offered from an MKSS over 12 months. Nutritional data were extracted from recipes available to order from HelloFresh in Australia from 1 July 2017 to 30 June 2018. In total, 346 (251 unique) recipes were retrieved. Per serve (median size 580 g), meals contained a median of 2840 kJ (678 kcal) of energy, 58 g carbohydrate (14 g sugar), 44 g protein, 28 g total fat (8 g saturated fat) and 839 mg sodium. Median energy from macronutrients was total fat (38%), carbohydrates (34%), protein (25%) and saturated fat (11%). This paper is the first to describe characteristics of recipes available from an MKSS over a 12-month period of time. With their growing popularity, meal kit delivery services have the capacity to influence consumer food behaviours, diets and subsequently population health. MKSSs may function to promote health though education, training, and enabling home cooking behaviours, and may be a powerful commitment device for home cooking behaviour change. However, it is important for health professionals, including dietitians and nutritionists, to understand the nutritional risks, benefits and suitability of this contemporary mealtime option before recommending them to clients and members of the public as part of health promotion.

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“…This novel finding is an important insight into the emergence of increased popularity of meal-kit services in Australia. Moores et al ( 59 ) examined the nutritional composition of foods procured through meal-kit services; however, the reasons for the use of these services were not determined. Our study contributes toward understanding the determinants of the use of meal kits during the COVID-19 pandemic.…”

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“…It may also be that since increased food agency scores did not translate to increased cooking frequency, students were not implementing the nutrition principles they learned in the food agency pedagogy in their daily lives. Recent research on the nutrient composition of meal kits also indicates that their nutrient composition may not always align with dietary guidelines, and therefore they may not lead to increased diet quality depending on the options selected [ 25 , 26 ]. Finally, since the study took place during the winter months in the northeastern United States, it is possible that students were choosing to eat foods and meals that were more hearty and comforting, and that if the study had taken place over the summer, students would have been eating more seasonally available produce and generally lighter meals that would have resulted in higher HEI scores.…”

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“…Two separate Australian studies published in 2019 and 2020, respectively, found that meal kits provided a sufficient amount of vegetables but could be high in sodium, and macronutrient content varied considerably from recipe to recipe [82,83]. Results from both studies suggest that opportunities exist to improve the nutritional quality of meal kits, alter recipe directions to align better with dietary guidelines, and provide recommendations to modify recipes tailored to dietary concerns [82].…”