Nutrition and Dietetics, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, Sturt Road, Bedford Park, South Australia 5042, Australia.
Adelaide Dental School, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, The University of Adelaide, North Terrace, Adelaide, South Australia 5005, Australia.
Health Promot Int. 2021 Aug 24;36(3):660-668. doi: 10.1093/heapro/daaa095.
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.
Meal kit delivery services are growing in popularity in developed countries, complementing busy lifestyles with pre-measured ingredients and recipe instructions delivered to the home. These meal kits have the ability to influence consumer diets and population health, and may support health promoting diet behaviours, e.g. eating vegetables, and enable home cooking. In this study, we reviewed a years' worth of recipes from a popular meal kit service. We report that a typical recipe contained approximately nine different ingredients, comprising three vegetables and required three ingredients from the home pantry. Meals took ∼35 min to prepare and were found to be relatively high in energy from fat and protein, and relatively low in energy from carbohydrates. The level of sodium varied widely and some meals exceeded the Australian Suggested Dietary Target for sodium (<2000 mg). Meal kit recipes were found to have health promoting qualities, frequently including vegetable ingredients, however, improvements to recipes would make these meal kits more health promoting. Current diet intakes and the nutritional composition of meal kits recipes should be reviewed before being recommended by health professionals.
对于希望在家做饭时获得更大便利的消费者来说，餐包是一种受欢迎的选择。在包括澳大利亚在内的发达国家，餐包订阅服务（MKSS）的市场份额正在增长，然而，关于其促进健康的品质，例如营养成分的文献却很少。本研究旨在评估在 12 个月内，MKSS 提供的膳食的特点和营养成分。从 2017 年 7 月 1 日至 2018 年 6 月 30 日，从澳大利亚的 HelloFresh 可订购的食谱中提取营养数据。总共检索到 346 个（251 个独特）食谱。每份（中份大小 580 克）膳食中含有 2840 千焦（678 卡路里）的能量、58 克碳水化合物（14 克糖）、44 克蛋白质、28 克总脂肪（8 克饱和脂肪）和 839 毫克钠。宏量营养素的能量中位数分别为总脂肪（38%）、碳水化合物（34%）、蛋白质（25%）和饱和脂肪（11%）。本文首次描述了在 12 个月的时间内，MKSS 提供的食谱的特点。随着它们的日益普及，餐包配送服务有能力影响消费者的饮食和人口健康。MKSS 可以通过教育、培训和促进家庭烹饪行为来促进健康，并且可能是家庭烹饪行为改变的有力承诺机制。然而，在向客户和公众推荐这些作为健康促进一部分的现代用餐选择之前，健康专业人员（包括营养师和营养学家）了解其营养风险、益处和适宜性非常重要。
