As of: February 19, 2024, 9:35 a.m
By: Bettina Menzel
Comments
Press
Split
Anyone who chooses ready-made meals in the supermarket is unlikely to expect particularly healthy food.
But: There are differences in the quality of instant meals, especially when it comes to ingredients.
Berlin – Sometimes things have to happen quickly: In stressful everyday life, many consumers like to turn to ready meals.
But how good are instant noodles, curry and the like really?
The ARD program “Servicezeit” tested this and took a closer look at four Asian instant products at random.
Asian ready meals in check: These products have been tested
Court |
brand |
Price |
Bami Goreng |
Frosta |
0.94 euros per 100 grams |
Red Thai curry with chicken |
Youcook |
0.94 euros per 100 grams |
Green Curry |
Asia Green Garden |
0.85 euros per 100 grams |
Instant noodle soup with “Duck Flavor” |
YumYum |
1.15 euros per 100 grams |
How healthy are instant noodles, curry and the like?
“Long list of additives”
Asian cuisine is considered very healthy, but Asian ready meals have a bad reputation.
A popular accusation is that they contain a lot of glutamate and salt.
But is that really true?
The ARD testers bought products from the refrigerated section, instant noodle soups and ready-made mixes for warming up and had them evaluated by nutrition expert Britta Schautz and two professional chefs.
The ARD program “Servicezeit” tested various Asian ready meals (symbolic image).
© Imago / Shotshop / CSH
The dishes have “a long list of ingredients with a cocktail of additives,” according to the nutrition expert’s initial analysis.
As a consumer, with all the E numbers, it is difficult to see what the dishes actually contain.
“This is of course what the industry wants,” says Schautz.
The manufacturer Frosta is setting a good example by transparently listing the origin of its ingredients, which is not mandatory, says the nutrition expert.
In the same breath, however, she criticized the origin of the Frosta chicken from Thailand.
Asian ready meals in the test: These are the results at a glance
Bami Goreng - Frosta
Plus: high vegetable content of 45 percent, colorful appearance, slight spiciness
Minus: Chicken imported from Thailand, therefore keeping conditions unclear.
According to Frosta, the housing conditions in the selected farm in Thailand are even better than the standard in Germany.
Red Thai curry with chicken - Youcook
Plus: Crunchy vegetables, loose rice, calories and salt content okay according to the nutrition expert
Minus: No original Thai taste due to missing spices such as cumin, red chilies, ginger, only 16 percent vegetables, only one percent wild rice
Green Curry - Asia Green Garden
Plus: -
Minus: “Bland” taste, low coconut milk and spinach content, high cream content, chicken imported from Thailand, therefore keeping conditions unclear
Instant noodle soup - YamYam
Plus: Taste
Minus: Ingredients like glutamate, lots of salt, palm oil, lots of additives and flavors, empty calories and no healthy ingredients
My news
Monthly salary of 3500 euros gross – that’s how much is left over in the pension
100-year calendar with Easter forecast: This is how to read the weather
New law for television reception 2024: Tenants are no longer tied to a TV connection read
Property tax assessment rates are rising: These communities are the front runners
Example calculation shows: This is how much you have to earn throughout your life to get around 2000 euros in pension
Reduction in pension due to marriage: When couples get less money read
The testers' conclusion: Ready meals have little to do with Asian cuisine
The testers emphasized that all of the dishes were not authentically Asian.
So if you're expecting a classic Asian menu, you'll be disappointed.
The bottom line is that the red Thai curry with chicken performed best in the ARD test - especially when it comes to the ingredients and ingredients.
This generally applies to the more expensive products in the boxes, according to the testers.
Instant noodle soup is clearly at the bottom of the list when it comes to ingredients.
It is said that this has little to do with the healthy image of Asian cuisine.
If you can afford it, you should dig a little deeper into your pockets - even if you have to do it quickly.
If you still don't want to do without instant ramen noodles, you can improve them with a trick, refine them with peanut butter or give alternatives a chance.