Comparison of Nutritional Content in Processed and Homemade Foods

Abstract

This master thesis is performed in collaboration with Orkla Foods Sweden AB. The aim with this study is to investigate and compare nutritional contents in processed and homemade foods by investigating three selected ready meal products from the product range of Orkla Foods; meatballs, potato mash and pasta bolognese. This originates in a general perception that foods produced in a large-scale industry have a less adequate nutritional content compared to homemade foods.

The experimental investigation was executed by having test subjects cooking homemade dishes by using industrial recipes and raw material provided by Orkla Foods, and by using corresponding home recipes and raw material from a grocery store. These two treatments and a control product, produced in a factory, were analyzed for a selection of nutrients, based on guidelines on what nutrients to encourage and limit in the diet. By combining these, a score called Nutrient Rich Food (NRF) index was created in order to have a suitable comparative measurement of the nutrient density in each dish.

The results showed that in two out of three homemade dishes with home recipe, the meat-containing ones, the nutrient densities were significantly higher. This was mainly due to a higher meat content contributing to higher contents of protein and selected analyzed minerals. The addition of nutrient-dense vegetables, such as carrots, aided in increasing the dietary fiber and vitamin content in the pasta bolognese. In the third homemade dish, the potato mash, the nutrient density was not significantly different from the control. This was primarily because of the contents in the homemade dish which contained significantly more vitamin C which increases the nutrient density, but also significantly more saturated fat which decreases it. Furthermore, the homemade potato mash and its control seemed to be relatively similar despite the considerable difference in processing due to not that many significant differences were found.

No significant differences were found in the energy content, the salt content, nor the portion sizes. The study also saw that the saturated fat content was depending on the fat content in the raw material, as well as the addition of butter and cheese. The result showed no difference in nutritional content when the processing of the food was performed industrially or at home, when using the same industrial recipe.

The conclusion concerning the three selected ready meal products is that the largest impact of variation on the results and nutritional content in the processed and homemade variants originates from the differences in the home recipe and the industrial recipe. This is due to the addition of different raw materials in varying amounts, rather than the level of processing, i.e., the production scale and equipment used.

Popular Abstract

What Actually Affects the Nutritional Content in Processed Foods?

How many times have you been at the grocery store by the ready meals section, considering if you should cook something at home, or let go of your prestige and buy a ready meal? Or how many times time have you been heating your ready meal at work, hoping that no one will notice that you did not have time to prepare a lunch box at home?

It seems like the general perception of today’s consumers is that foods produced in a large-scale industry have a less adequate nutritional content than foods that are homemade. Processed food is an ambiguous and general term that often seems to be used in a negative sense, but does processing of food really affect the nutritional content? And does the nutritional composition of the food cooked at home or in the food industry differ?

Several studies from around the world indicate that consumers’ perceptions of processed food are used today in a negative sense. Their opinion is that the food has a higher content of energy, saturated fat, and salt, but also that losses of nutritional properties occur during processing. However, this do not necessarily apply to processed foods. In Sweden, there is not much scientific foundation whether this view is supported by empirical evidence or not. To address this problem and contribute with more scientific results concerning processed food and its equivalent of cooking at home, this master thesis was conducted.

This was done by having test subjects cook three different dishes in a home environment with home recipes and with industrial recipes and corresponding industrially produced ready meal products. Thereafter, analyzing these dishes for a selection of nutrients creating a nutrient density for each dish. The three selected ready meal products from Orkla Foods are meatballs, potato mash and pasta bolognese.

The general perception regarding that the energy and salt content is higher in industrial foods, can be rejected for these three selected dishes as no differences were found between the home recipe and the industrially produced food. Concerning the saturated fat content, it seemed to be highly dependent on the saturated fat content in the actual raw material. This was observed in the industrial recipe for the pasta bolognese which contained significantly higher content of saturated fat compared to the home recipe, despite using the same type of meat. In general, the processing seemed to not affect the nutritional content, it was rather the composition of the recipe and the choice of raw material that were the influencing factors.

Additionally, the two meat-containing dishes with home recipes had significantly higher nutrient densities, while not being significantly higher for the homemade potato mash. One explanation for this is the amount of meat used in the different recipes. Moreover, a difference was seen in the portion size for the meatballs, where the home recipe had a significantly larger portion than the industrial meatballs. An interesting observation during the practical execution was that the test subjects seemed to plate the same number of meatballs even though the meatballs obviously weighed differently.

Lastly, this study can be of use for consumers by providing more information prior to their food choices. This study can also be applied to the food industry, where it can contribute with concrete enlightenments on how to affect the nutrient density and nutritional content of the food products.

• author: Calais, Andrea and Thituson, Malin
• supervisor: Andreas Håkansson
• organization: Food Technology and Nutrition (M.Sc.)
• alternative title: Jämförelse av Näringsinnehåll i Processad och Hemlagad Mat
• course: KLTM05 20211
• year: 2021
• type: H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
• subject: Technology and Engineering
• keywords: food engineering, nutrition, processed food, homemade food, nutrient density, NRF index
• language: English
• id: 9052932
• date added to LUP: 2021-06-17 11:28:54
• date last changed: 2021-06-28 12:58:25