Junk Food / Ready Meals M&S, Waitrose

[barry1010]

We are told that junk food and ready meals are bad for us and should only be eaten occasionally, so why are M&S and Waitrose ready meals considered to be better?

When an own brand ready meal is recalled very often it is recalled from many different supermarkets including M&S and Waitrose, proving it is no different (or not much different) from, say, Asda or Iceland

[bednobs]

are they considered better? By whom?

[barry1010]

I know several people who don't consider M&S ready meals to be junk food - they wouldn't dream of eating McDonalds.

[bednobs]

maybe you should ask them then? It could be they don't like macd's but do like M+S ready meals?

[drmorgans]

They probably don't buy "off the peg" products. M&S, Waitrose MAY specify less fat, less sugar, less salt, fewer "E's" etc. Junk maybe, but possibly less "junky".

[barry1010]

It's not just them, the same perception is portrayed in the media, tv dramas

[davebro]

I think when you get to a certain age if you've still got a good appetite you should eat what you like. I have a ready meal probably 2 or 3 times a week - Aldi or Iceland. I have a McD once in a blue moon.

[barry1010]

I have no appetite for ready meals with the exception of an occasional lamb shank in red wine sauce which is a very useful freezer standby.

I am just trying to understand why M&S is considered better than the rest in respect of their ready meals.

[davebro]

Have you a got link as to who said they are better? Maybe some people think more expensive = better, hence M&S & Waitrose. The only truly AWFUL ready meals I have tried are Parsley Box - YUK!

[Tilly2]

This is not just any junk food, this M&S junk food. :-)

[dannyk13]

Maybe they have better quality ingredients.

[New Judge]

Because it's not just junk food...it's M&S junk food. :-)

Like all things, in moderation it will probably do no harm. But if you live on takeaway and processed food it will probably cause you problems. I have lovely neighbours but they (and their two young children) live on what I would describe as junk. They have a varied diet - McDonalds one day, takeaway curry the next, Chinese the next, takeaway pizza the next, takeaway kebab the next. All of this is delivered, mostly on the back of a scooter, so tepid at best by the time it arrives. Sometimes they will have two deliveries in a day (lunch and dinner). I've even noticed that Greggs deliver their wholesome sausage rolls (you know, the ones where customers were variously "outraged" and "devastated" when they went u by 5p recently). I really don't think it is doing any of them much good.

[davebro]

I can recommend Aldi's Wiltshire Cured Ham Gratin. Not seen similar elsewhere.

[Vagus]

I don’t consider ready meals to be junk food, I consider them to be convenient on occasions (very few occasions in our case).
From the ready meals we have had, we both prefer M&S ones simply because they taste nicer. For instance, we had an M&S macaroni cheese which we enjoyed. Then bought a Sainsburys extra special range one and found it tasteless.
We don’t have a Waitrose close enough to make it worthwhile shopping there regularly so I can’t comment on their ready meals.

[barry1010]

NJ, I've got neighbours like that - I know because the delivery people often ring my bell in error. Blerdy annoying when it's gone 11 at night and my house number is lit up for all to see.
They do work very long hours, though.

I'm not criticising anyone for eating it. I know one woman who passes off M&S ready meals as home cooked when she entertains, tarting them up a bit with fresh herbs and added extras.

[Vagus]

Actually Barry youve reminded me, the lamb shanks from just about anywhere are very good. M&S do, or used to do, a ham shank in an orange and cranberry sauce, absolutely delicious.

[davebro]

Sometimes out for a restaurant meal veggies friends have commented that the meal they got was rubbish & they would have preferred an M&S ready meal.

[douglas9401]

It may come as no surprise the M&S ready meals, along with the various sides, are made in a factory.
I used to deliver the raw materials to one such factory up here which also produced ready meals etc for Lidl.
It's pretty much all the same stuff with different labels.

[barry1010]

Yes, I agree, douglas. Although looking at the ingredients and nutritional information of say, macaroni cheese from M&S and comparing to mac cheese from other supermarkets, they are not identical. May come from the same factory but not the same.

I've just remembered that I did enjoy some M&S duck legs in a sauce a while back - my son bought them and his wife didn't fancy them.

[Vagus]

I had a holiday job in a food factory when I was at college many years ago. The food was produced for many supermarkets and just packaged differently.
The one exception was M&S. The factory could never secure a contract from them as it wasn’t up to the standards M&S required. I remember all the scrubbing and cleaning which went on when M&S were due to visit, new overalls, etc.

[maggiebee]

Like to have a ready meal on standby and often have an M&S one in the fridge. However, the one I like went up by 45p in a week. Need to watch the pennies so I'll be having a look at Lidl which is nearby. Easy to improve the taste of eg Macaroni Cheese by adding more cheese and serving with garlic bread. Yum