Convenience store food such as ready-to-eat meals is gaining popularity owing to the increasing number of small households and dual-income families across the globe. Ready-to-eat meals are processed and involve preservation technology, extending product shelf life.
“Food and Health Survey 2020” by the International Food Information Council of 1011 Americans (aged between 18 to 80) informed that 19% of consumers ate more pre-made meals from their pantry or freezer. Although these solutions are more in demand from younger generations, the new trends in food packaging demonstrate that older people are also showing increasing concern for health in terms of both term and physical activity. Prepared foods in microwaveable packaging, is the standup pouch made of high-barrier complexes. Food kits: this is a popular alternative to ready meals and takeaways. These kits include the exact ingredients needed to prepare a meal. They also come with clear and concise instructions to ensure they are quick and simple to prepare.
Processed food is any food that has been altered in some way during preparation. Not all processed foods are healthy but some processed foods may contain high levels of salt, sugar, and fat. Ingredients such as salt, sugar, and fat are added to processed food to make their flavor more appealing to extend their shelf life, or in some cases to contribute to the food structure such as salt in bread and sugar in cake. Buying process can lead to people eating more than the recommended amounts of sugar, salt, and fat as they may not be aware of how much has been added to the food they are buying and eating. Convenience foods are used to shorten the time of meal preparation at home. In addition to its ingredients list, another clue that a food might be processed is the “best if used by” date for example: much of the packaged sliced bread, buns, and baked goods lining the shelves at a grocery store contain additives and preservatives to help them stay fresh for upto a week or more after baking.
In today’s modern society, people are being tied up by their work, which leads to a lack of time. The situation is worsening day by day due to cutthroat competition and the prevalence of hi-tech devices. People consume more convenience store food than they did many years ago. This is due to the fact they lack time to cook homemade dishes and this could result in excessive weight gain and her chronic and other health problems. Due to living in a rapid-paced environment, people frequently neglect taking care of their lifestyle and eat more convenience processed food as compared to the past. This is due to the fact of lack of time to prepare homemade meals. In these competitive fields, workers are required to resume their hours much earlier. In other words, they need to work longer hours to meet the demands of their employers, which ultimately, deprives them of eating healthy meals. For example, employees working in a multinational company work up to 10-12 hours a day with limited break hours. Therefore, they rely on ‘canned’ food or processed food which are unhealthy.
Food is important for survival. To be healthy and active, we should certainly have enough food. But the foods we eat should also be safe and rich in all the nutrients our body needs.
The primary effect of this is obesity and other chronic disease. This means that eating processed food can slowly deteriorate the human body giving birth to numerous diseases and disorders. This could also mean that they underperform at work and are more irritable with those around them. A recent survey showed that 40% of professionals tend to suffer from high cholesterol and high blood pressure from eating processed and junk food. On the other hand, people eating healthy meals tend to live longer and focus better at work. People indulge more in processed food as compared to the previous generations due to lack of time thus affecting their immunity with weight gain and various other diseases. People wake up and begin planning for the rest of the day, leaving home without breakfast.in the last few decades, the consumption of ready-made meals through online platforms has increased dramatically. For people with long working hours, this is a fast and easy way to feed themselves. Pre-cooked food might be convenient and time-saving, but it is also unhealthy and can lead to several diseases. In some cases ordering food through online platforms i.e: swiggy, zomato, etc is treated as a status symbol however it leads to obesity and other illnesses.
Healthy foods protein, carbohydrates, fat, water, vitamins, and minerals, which you can get from a variety of fruits, vegetables, lean meats, eggs, a variety of nuts, seafood, whole grains, dairy, and more. Process foods are very unhealthy for people but these are what people eat because they are inexpensive, more convenient, and tasty.
Article by Anushka John | Edited by Saumya Sharma
