Birmingham study finds 'dine-in' style supermarket meal deals are making us fatter

Researchers from the University of Birmingham found 93 percent of foods included in the offers exceeded the recommended limit of 600 calories per person.

Author: Katie JonesPublished 19th Jun 2024
Last updated 19th Jun 2024

Most supermarkets these days offer your typical end of isle, main, side and desert for two meal deal. But it's actually suggested that despite the convenience and cheaper price - it's not a healthy option.

A study suggests most supermarket "dine in" meal deals are so calorie-dense they're making us fatter.

Researchers from the University of Birmingham found 93 percent of foods included in the offers exceeded the recommended limit of 600 calories per person.

The academics say that while the dinners are often good value - it's not necessarily the healthiest one.

Experts are now advising shoppers to rely less on the convenient 'dine-in' style meal deals.

A deal we've seen at a supermarket comes to 1,500 calories per person. Dr Sheena Leek from the University of Birmingham says that should be 600 calories per person.

"Over consumption of calories is eventually going to lead to us putting on weight and this is going to lead to obesity. And of course that is going to lead to the problems we know are associated with obesity like increased risk of various cancers."

She's recommending we limit the amount of deals we go for in the future.

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