Modern nutrition trends (1/2)

Modern nutrition trends: convenience food and fast food in vogue?

The fact that societies are constantly changing and evolving is a phenomenon that cannot be denied. In recent years in particular, these changes seem to have affected lifestyles and diets – especially in countries of the Western world. It seems that less and less time is spent on food preparation or is not available (anymore) at all. As a result, demand for quick and easy-to-prepare food is increasing, the food supply is changing, and new food trends are emerging. Two of these modern food trends will be discussed in more detail in the next two blog posts. Today’s post looks at the trend of convenience food. Another will have fast food as its theme.

The word convenience food (also convenience food) comes from the English language and is made up of the words convenience and food. Thus, this type of dietary trend involves “partially or fully prepared foods and meal components, up to and including ready-to-eat meals” [1]. These are intended to make work easier for the consumer.

If we look at the quality of products that are considered convenience food from a nutritional perspective, it can vary greatly. Frozen vegetables or fruits, for example, are just as beneficial to health as their fresh counterparts. Whole prepared meals, on the other hand, are of lower nutritional quality.

Like so many modern food trends, this one has its pros and cons:

The biggest plus of convenience food is that it saves you time. Lengthy preparation and cooking are shortened with ready-to-cook, ready-to-cook or even ready-to-eat products. Seasonless, longer-lasting convenience food products can be consumed at any time (such as pre-processed canned or frozen foods). For people who cannot cook (whether due to illness, age, etc.), ready-made meals create the opportunity to still provide for themselves.

However, ready meals and similar convenience food products also bring disadvantages. They “often have high levels of nutritionally unfavorable ingredients, such as table salt [note: not iodized], sugar, fat, and saturated fatty acids.” [2] They are also often more expensive to purchase and ecologically energy-intensive to produce, store and prepare.

So, as we can see, convenience food brings both advantages and disadvantages, and it is not for nothing that it is considered one of the most widespread among modern food trends.

If you have any questions or comments, feel free to leave us a comment. Of course you can also send us an e-mail ( to j.fuschelberger@agrisan.at).

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credentials

Elmadfa, Ibrahim & Claus Leitzmann. 2019. human nutrition. 6th, revised and updated edition. Stuttgart: Eugen Ulmer, pp. 755-757

https://www.duden.de/rechtschreibung/Convenience_Food

[1] Elmadfa, Ibrahim & Claus Leitzmann. 2019. Human nutrition. 6th, revised and updated edition. Stuttgart: Eugen Ulmer, p. 755

[2] Elmadfa, Ibrahim & Claus Leitzmann. 2019. Human nutrition. 6th, revised and updated edition. Stuttgart: Eugen Ulmer, p. 756

That was: Modern nutrition trends (1/2)