It is now a well-established fact that whole, unprocessed food is way healthier than the ultra-processed variety. In addition, home cooking offers the opportunity to control sugar and sodium intake, an option not possible with processed food.

However, cooking from scratch might be too time-consuming. This would be too much to expect from a working parent who has to balance work and family life. And even for singles living alone, cooking for one might be too much of a bother.

So when supermarket-prepared meals began to appear, they become an instant hit. Now a $29 billion a year industry according to YahooNews, the trend stayed on because supermarket-prepared meals are perceived as healthier than the usual take-outs and frozen dinners. People view them as the perfect balance of healthy, convenience and taste. With the variety of options available, everyone is sure to find something that suits his or her taste.

Consumer Reports made a recent study of this relatively new kind convenience food, analyzing their nutritional content, quality and preparation. In the article written by Katherine Hobson, here is what Consumer Reports found out.

1.     'Freshly Made' does not always mean the ingredients are fresh - According to the report, only half of the prepared meals they tested were made on the premises, in fact, some prepared meals do not have the same ZIP codes as the store they are sold. The reason is cost; in-store preparation requires a kitchen which would mean additional costs. In their defense, not all stores promised that their prepared meals are fresh, it's just implied.

2.     Salt content is a concern - It is already known that most of the sodium intake of the American diet come from processed foods and restaurants foods. However, the report concludes that some, though not all, of the tested prepared meals, carry worrisome sodium contents as well. For example, the report mentioned mini turkey meatloaves that contain 891 milligrams of sodium in 6 ounces, a cup of the lemon orzo has 938 milligrams, a vegetarian eggplant rollatini that has 635 milligrams and spicy tuna rolls that have 834 milligrams in 6 ounces. It is easy to picture how one could exceed the 2,300 USDA daily recommended limit even when eating 'healthy' with supermarket prepared meals.

3.     Nutritional information is not readily available - This is a tricky one that is caused by a loophole according to the report. FDA requires packaged foods to carry nutritional labels. However, the same label is not required on freshly prepared meals. According to the report, this situation is not likely to change anytime soon.

4.     Does not come with a serving size suggestion - This is a potential dieting trap. How does one know if one overate when there is no serving size suggestion? No matter how healthy a food may be, portion control is still necessary.

5.     Convenience comes at a price - Some of the sampled prepared meals are quite overpriced. Consumer Reports did some calculation factoring in the cost of the ingredients and even the cost of labor required to create the meals. The conclusion? Some prepared meals are overpriced by a hundred percent, with some samples even tripling the price.

Does this mean people should ditch supermarket prepared meals? Of course not, a lot of supermarket prepared meals are still generally healthier compared to restaurant food and almost at par with frozen food, according to Katherine Hobson in another article for Consumer Reports. The comparisons were based on calories, fat, saturated fat and sodium content.

Apparently, not all supermarket prepared meals are created equal. The trick, therefore, is to be picky and scout for that particular supermarket that offers the healthiest version. As of this writing, however, it seems no extensive comparison on the nutritional contents of the various supermarket prepared meals has been done yet.