A very interesting study published in the British Food Journal watched two-income Los Angeles families for four days and looked at what they ate for dinner. The study found that 70 percent of the dinners were home-cooked, but convenience foods dominated.
Most families used some kind of pre-prepared items such as frozen entrees, vegetables, frozen bread products, canned soup or prepared pasta sauce in their meals. On the other hand, less than 15 percent of families had meals consisting entirely of takeout food, and about 5 percent combined takeout with food made at home.
What makes this study so interesting is that people who cooked with convenience foods and those who made meals from scratch took about the same time to cook. Average meal preparation time was 52 minutes, and there was no statistical difference in time between those who used mostly convenience foods and those who used fewer of those products.
There was, however, time saved when you look at hands-on cooking time. Meals made from scratch needed about 34 minutes on hands-on time, while those who used prepared foods could step away from the stove for 10 or 12 of those minutes.
Researchers said the reliance on convenience foods comes more from not having a plan when you go to the grocery store than any actual convenience. And with all the sodium and uncontrollable levels of calories and fat in prepared foods, you’ve got to wonder what that “convenience” is costing.