Health warning on over 93% of supermarket dinners

Almost all supermarket meal deals contain more than the government’s recommended limit of 600 calories per person for dinner, a study has found. Around 93% of meal deals surveyed by the University of Birmingham exceeded the suggested limit, with the most caloric option containing 1,526 calories.

Supermarkets promote dinner deals as an affordable way to get a full meal, including a main, side, dessert and drinks, or an alternative to an expensive dinner. Deals, which are usually designed for one or two people, allow shoppers to select several different items at a discounted price.

But the study found that while a “dinner for two” deal may be a cheaper option, it’s not necessarily a healthier one. The researchers analyzed dinner menu offerings from three national supermarket and grocery store chains, consisting of 85 items. The number of deals on dinner meals that exceed the 600-calorie limit varied significantly from store to store.

At one store, only 60.3% of meal deal combinations exceeded the limit, compared to nearly all (99.7%) at another. The lightest meal had a calorie count of just 187, or 31% of the suggested amount.

The average main course represented 51.2% of the guideline calorie limit, but varied from 39.6% to 78.3% in different stores. The calorie content of the side dish was almost constant, ranging from 32.3% to 33.2% in stores.

Desserts were also similar at 50.4% to 54.2% of the limit, with drinks ranging from 13.9% to 14.3%. The government launched its One You campaign in 2016 to help tackle the obesity epidemic and make the public more aware of their health and diet.

One of the key messages in this campaign was the 400-600-600 guideline, which recommends that adults consume 400 calories at breakfast and 600 each for lunch and dinner, with two 200-calorie snacks. Dr Sheena Leek, senior lecturer in marketing at the University of Birmingham – who led the study – said: “We are a very time-poor nation and for those of us who work long hours, reaching for a dinner or supper offer . be an easy and cheap way to get a filling and hopefully tasty dinner or provide an economical alternative to a date night.

“But what’s healthy for our wallets isn’t necessarily healthy for our bodies, and our study found that these dinner meal combinations often exceed the UK government’s calorie content guidelines for dinner.”

She added: “The biggest difference in calorie content was due to the inclusion of desserts and drinks. The dinner deals that had the lowest calorie count included only one main course and one side dish. But even then, our study shows that if you depend on these deals for your dinner, the vast majority of them make it extremely difficult to stick to the 600-calorie suggestion.”