The Science of New Year’s Goods | “Pre-prepared meals” enter the New Year’s Eve dinner, are their safety, taste and nutrition guaranteed?

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Written by reporter Song Meng Edited by Liu Zhao

New Media Editor/Song Meng

Interview experts:

Zhong Kai (Director of Kexin Food and Health Information Exchange Center)

New Year's Eve dinner, as the most important meal of the year, always gives people a full sense of ritual. As the 2022 Spring Festival approaches, some shopping and takeaway websites have begun to display pictures and texts such as "pre-made dishes" and pre-made "New Year's Eve dinner" on the homepage or cover, trying to seize the last "journey" of warming up before the New Year.

However, “prepared meals” are not a temporary trend, and not all ingredients are suitable for pre-prepared dishes.

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There is a mystery behind the “return to popularity”

"Prepared meals" are generally considered to be 3R foods (Ready to cook, ready to heat, ready to eat). They refer to finished or semi-finished dishes made from agricultural products, livestock and poultry, aquatic products, etc., with various auxiliary ingredients, and pre-processed (such as cutting, mixing, marinating, tumbling, shaping, seasoning, quick freezing, and freezing).

However, Zhong Kai, director of the China Food and Health Information Exchange Center, said in an interview with reporters: There is currently no accurate definition of "prepared meals".

In fact, "pre-prepared meals" are nothing new. Because it originated in the United States in the 1960s, it officially started in my country in 2000, but the concept really became popular after 2020. Therefore, there are many people who say that "the most direct reason for the popularity of pre-prepared meal products is the recent COVID-19 epidemic."

(Image source: CCTV Finance official account article)

In addition, some people believe that "consumer demand is the driving force". Because people nowadays live too fast and it takes too much time to prepare and cook. Therefore, "pre-prepared dishes" with advantages such as saving time and ingredients, having appropriate portions and distinct tastes are very popular among young consumers in first- and second-tier cities who need to work overtime 996. Under the high work intensity and fast work pace, they can occasionally experience the joy of cooking through "pre-prepared dishes".

In addition, in recent years, the catering model has gradually become family-oriented. From eating New Year’s Eve dinner in the restaurant in the past, some people have made reservations for family banquets. Therefore, there is no need to buy and cut vegetables by yourself. You can directly use well-proportioned ingredients and go directly to the cooking and heating stages. "Pre-prepared dishes" have gradually become a "trendy product" in the eyes of consumers.

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Security: More than just a paper strategy

Although "prepared meals" have many advantages, the companies involved in the production of "prepared meals", including upstream meat, aquatic products and other fresh food suppliers, midstream frozen foods, fast food and other food manufacturers, downstream e-commerce platforms, branded restaurants, etc., have also expanded a lot compared with the past.

However, due to the preconceived notion of takeout and meal packages that cost only a few dollars, are heated with hot water, and have no nutritional value at all, many consumers believe that "prepared meals" contain a lot of additives, especially preservatives.

(Photo source: China City News official account article)

In addition, the industrialized production process of pre-prepared meals requires strict control over the principles of raw materials, the proportion of auxiliary materials, aseptic workshops, freezing technology, etc. At present, there are still workshop-style factories in the pre-prepared meal market, and even some unscrupulous companies use inferior ingredients, irregular production, and unsafe packaging materials.

Therefore, some consumers feel that the safety of "pre-prepared meals" seems to be just "paper talk". However, some people hold different views and have tried them many times.

(Image source: Netizen comments)

In addition, Chinese food industry analyst Zhu Danpeng once said: The current pain points of the "pre-prepared meal" industry market are mainly reflected in two aspects. On the one hand, there is a lack of national standards, which will cause hidden dangers in food safety; on the other hand, the recognition and acceptance of "pre-prepared meals" on the consumer side may not be high enough. Some consumers may think that the nutrition of "pre-prepared meals" has been lost or the ingredients are not fresh.

However, regarding the use of "preservatives", Zhu Yi, an associate professor at the College of Food Science and Nutritional Engineering of China Agricultural University, once said in an interview with the media: With the current level of food preservation technology, there is actually no need to worry about a large loss of nutritional value, and businesses do not need to add preservatives because it has been used very early, such as in train lunch boxes and other meals.

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Taste: "A hundred flowers bloom" but "pain points" still exist

Before the "revival", many "old names" in "pre-prepared dishes" were well known to people, such as quick-frozen foods and fast foods (such as various canned foods, ham sausages, quick-frozen dumplings, etc.). At that time, the impression left by "old pre-prepared dishes" was mostly that they were eaten occasionally in emergencies, and the variety and taste were relatively simple.

Nowadays, the popular "pre-prepared meals" are different from the traditional "quick-frozen foods" that focus on staple foods. At present, the "pre-prepared meals" on the market cover a wide range of cuisines, including Cantonese, Suzhou, Hunan and Sichuan cuisines, such as dry pot pork intestines, stewed radish with tendons and basil, cumin lamb, fried spareribs and various boiled fish fillets.

(Image source: CCTV Finance official account article)

In addition, some "pre-prepared dishes" that are more complicated to make, such as Buddha Jumps Over the Wall, are made from dozens of ingredients including fish maw, sea cucumber, abalone, chicken, duck, ham, etc. The production process is complicated and long and the price is high, but they are also very popular among catering brands. In addition, some catering brands have also followed the trend and launched "pre-prepared dishes" packages for New Year's Eve dinner.

However, looking at the current market, most pre-prepared dishes are heavy-flavored, while the inability to perfectly present dishes with light flavors is still a "pain point" of "pre-prepared dishes".

(Image source: Netizen comments)

Therefore, some consumers questioned, "Can 'pre-prepared dishes' completely replicate the taste of freshly cooked dishes?" Some consumers also said, "Many pre-prepared dishes are mixed with green vegetables. If you buy them in advance, they will not be fresh. It is better to buy them and eat them now."

However, many businesses have said that in order to ensure freshness, they will cook it one day in advance according to the order situation, and vacuum seal it after cooling to lock in the freshness. There is no need to use preservatives, and the final taste can be guaranteed to be basically the same as that of the on-site oven. Some businesses also said that they will make and sell it according to the order.

Therefore, the reporter asked Zhong Kai, "Is there a difference in taste between 'pre-prepared dishes' and freshly cooked dishes?" The answer he got was: In terms of taste, it depends on the cooking method and the characteristics of the ingredients. For example, the taste of stewed dishes is not much different from that of freshly cooked dishes. However, for vegetables with high water content, such as tomatoes, the taste of pre-prepared dishes may be different.

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Nutrition: Not much difference

In addition, many consumers are also worried that even if the taste of "prepared meals" is likely to be "intact", the nutrients will be significantly lost due to processing and shelf life issues.

(Image source: CCTV Finance official account article)

Therefore, when faced with products with different shelf lives, such as "pre-prepared meals" that are quick-frozen with a shelf life of up to 12 months, and some "pre-prepared meals" with a shelf life of only 8-12 days, many consumers prefer the one with a shorter shelf life.

However, in response to everyone's question, "Is there a difference in nutritional value between 'pre-prepared meals' and freshly cooked meals?" Zhong Kai said: There is little nutritional difference between the two.

In addition, although we can learn a lot about the safety, taste and nutrition of "pre-prepared meals", no one can give an accurate answer about its future direction.

However, Zhu Yi has previously raised the question that the future development of "pre-prepared meals" cannot be separated from one issue. "Who are you? Where do you come from? This determines where you are going." In other words, when eating "pre-prepared meals", we hope that we can find out who planted and raised the raw materials, where they were bought from, and who made the dishes, so that we can have a clear origin. In this way, people's trust in "pre-prepared meals" will be raised to a higher level.

References:

China City News: "Pre-prepared dishes" are becoming popular! Reporter's interview: Bad taste, not fresh, high price are the pain points https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/YJhnNCHPHD38NjnjxSb-sQ

Beijing Daily: Save time and effort and make a great meal, New Year's Eve dinner pre-prepared dishes are popular https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/4k9xR2l3qBV9LcttwSthHw

21st Century Business Herald: "Booming" pre-prepared dishes: The growth rate of pre-prepared dishes for New Year's Eve dinner exceeds 380%, and another trillion-yuan catering branch will emerge? https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/r9cPycpZEiH9YI3q4n4_pA

First Financial Daily: Pre-prepared food becomes the new favorite of the capital market again, who is the winner in the trillion-dollar market? https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/N7ZMzQzBL3LCbpX1pFnpeQ

Economic Observer: Capital enthusiasm is high, a new world for young people, are pre-prepared meals really that good? https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/fdHNLg5HctTS0MK4vtFQMA

Produced by: Science Central Kitchen

Produced by: Beijing Science and Technology News | Beijing Science and Technology Media

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