The nutritional value of hot meal components prepared in different ways

When the experiment "Convenience foods in hospitals" was planned it had to be established that it is nutritionally justified to replace conventionally cooked hot meals by deep-frozen ones. Therefore a study was devoted to the assesment of the nutritive value, immediately prior to consumption, of hot meal components prepared in different ways, namely: under ideal domestic conditions, in the central kitchens of institutions and industrially deep-frozen. The following meal components were chosen for the study: 6 different types of meat with their gravies, 6 different types of vegetables and potatoes prepared in 2 different ways. In these products the following nutrients were determined: proteins, fat, carbohydrates, iron, vitamin C and 7 vitamins of the B-complex. The study revealed that the nutrient-content of hot meal components immediately prior to consumption is not influenced by the way of preparation. An exception was vitamin C. The deep-frozen meals had a significantly lower vitamin C-content than the meals prepared under ideal domestic conditions.