(P14-037-23) Are Recommended Food Groups Adequately Represented in Commercial Meal Kits in the US?

Objectives: The Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA) provide guidance on eating patterns to prevent nutrition-related chronic diseases. Most Americans fall short of the DGA recommendations of intake for the five food groups. Meal-kits have the potential to bridge the gap between current intake patterns and the DGA recommendations. As there are currently no standards or guidance for meal-kit nutrition quality, the health ramifications of meal-kits are unknown. The objective of this study was to evaluate aspects of meal-kit recipe components available to consumers in the United States to determine nutrition quality compared to recommended intake patterns.

Methods: Recipe cards (n=127) were collected from commercial meal-kit suppliers in the US (n=11). A data extraction tool was designed in Qualtrics (Qualtrics, Provo, UT) to capture nutrition information and food groups featured in meal-kit recipes.

Results: Overall, meal-kit composition varied when compared with recommendations. All recipes examined featured at least one vegetable, with root vegetables (94/127), seeded vegetables (66/127), and starchy vegetables (47/127) being the most common. While 39/127 (30.7%) featured at least one type of fruit (most commonly citrus fruits, 30/39), the amount present was often not large enough to be considered a full serving of fruit. Most recipes (77%) included grains; however, only 7% contained whole grains. 76/127 (59.8%) featured one dairy-containing food or its non-dairy equivalent. The most common dairy products were cheese (39/76) and sour cream (32/76). 104/127 recipes featured at least one protein food (excluding beans/legumes). Added fat or oil was used in 125/127 recipes, with the most frequently occurring fat/oil being unspecified cooking oil (69/125), followed by olive oil (63/125) and butter (50/125).

Conclusions: Further research is needed to guide future meal-kit development to correspond with DGA recommendations to promote health and improve nutrition.

Funding Sources: None