To get an idea are ready-made meals healthy according to the Wheel of Five depends on its composition.

A healthy meal consists of:

1. A lot of vegetables
2. Potatoes or whole grain products, such as whole grain pasta or brown rice
3. Lean meat, fish, egg, nuts, tofu, tempeh or legumes, such as chickpeas or brown beans
4. Liquid oils and fats
5. No or little salt and other additives that are not in the Wheel of Five, such as sauce

In general, ready-made meals do not meet these requirements. For example, most ready-made meals contain few vegetables and a lot of salt.

The portion size of a ready-made meal often does not match either. It can be too little, which makes you hungry again quickly. It can also be too much, which makes you eat more than you need.

What should you look out for when buying a ready-made meals?

Choose a meal that you can see contains a lot of vegetables. For example, a meal salad. Sometimes the amount of vegetables is also stated on the packaging.

Choose a meal with potatoes, whole wheat pasta or brown rice instead of a meal with white rice or white pasta

Have a meal with fish, egg, legumes, nuts or lean meat such as chicken instead of a meal with, for example, sausage, meatballs or bacon.

If you eat a ready-made pizza, have a pizza with vegetables or fish instead of a pizza salami or four-cheese pizza.

Compare different meals. Look at the nutritional value on the label and choose a meal with the least salt and the least saturated fat.

Have a salad or raw vegetables with your ready-made meal for extra vegetables.

Cook yourself

An occasional ready-made meal is fine. But if you cook yourself, you decide what is in your meal. For example, you can choose to add salt or choose a spice mix without salt. And you can more easily ensure that you get enough vegetables and whole grain products such as brown rice or whole grain pasta. You can vary as much as you want, with meat, fish, eggs, legumes, nuts and meat substitutes such as tofu or tempeh.

Criteria for ready-made meal providers

We have drawn up criteria for meals for caterers and other companies that prepare ready-made meals. A healthy meal contains products that are in the Wheel of Five and not too many calories and salt:

• 400 to 700 kcal
• at least 150 grams of vegetables
• lean meat, fish, egg, tofu or tempeh up to a maximum of 100 grams and/or a maximum of 25 grams of nuts and/or a minimum of 60 grams of legumes
• Potatoes or whole grain products, such as whole wheat pasta, whole wheat couscous or brown rice
• Liquid margarine, liquid frying and roasting or oil up to a maximum of 15 grams

In addition, other products can be added:

Other foods that are in the Wheel of Five (for example, 30+ cheese, fruit, dried fruit)

A maximum of 2 grams of salt or a maximum of 2 small portions of products that are not in the Wheel of Five, such as a small amount of sauce

Are ready made meals healthy meal for people aged 70 and over also contains at least 25 grams of protein per meal. We have a guideline specifically for meal providers who offer meals for the elderly, which describes the criteria.