Chilled food

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article or section needs to be wikified to meet Wikipedia's quality standards.
Please help improve this article with relevant internal links. (August 2007)

Chilled foods are prepared foods stored at refrigeration temperatures (at or below 8°C). They have been available in the United Kingdom and many other industrialised countries since the 1960s.

[edit] Chronology of chilled foods in the UK

1960s	1970s	1980s	1990s	2000s
Sliced meats	Dressed salads	Recipe dishes (ready meals)		Accompaniments
Pies	Dairy desserts	Quiches	Non-dairy desserts	Speciality breads
		Flans	Dips	Sushi
		Sandwiches	Salad dressings	Luxury meals kits
		Pizzas	Sauces	Stir fry kits
		Ethnic snacks	Stocks
		Pastas	Prepared fruit
		Soups	Prepared vegetables
			Leafy salads
			Sandwich fillings

The chilled food sector is one of the fastest growing sectors in the food industry and chilled foods currently represent about 10% of all United Kingdom retail foods by value.^[1]

One of the largest sectors is the chilled recipe dish sector which has grown from an estimated £173 million in 1988 to over £1,750 million in 2005. The total UK chilled prepared food market was an estimated £7,187 million in 2004 and continues to evolve, reflecting consumers’ changing needs and lifestyles.

In 2004, over 80% of UK households bought a chilled prepared meal with over 40% buying one within any given month^[2].

This article or section is written like an advertisement.
Please help rewrite this article from a neutral point of view.
Mark blatant advertising which would require a fundamental rewrite in order to become encyclopedic for speedy deletion, using {{db-spam}}. (December 2007)

Initially market growth was due to the dramatic increase in the number of households with domestic refrigerators and the emergence of supermarkets, whose shorter lines of supply and faster turnovers allowed for the handling of shorter shelf life prepared foods. Over the past 20 years, however, the market has been driven by the huge social, economic and demographic changes that have influenced eating habits. Time pressures and higher disposable incomes combined with a rise in the number of working women and people living alone has resulted in an increased demand for good value delicious nutritious foods that are quick and easy to prepare.

After food safety, taste and nutritional quality are the most important criteria. Chilled prepared meals are made from high quality ingredients with full traceability at every stage of the food chain. They are made from seasonal raw materials where possible, but, as production is year round overseas sources area also used and these must meet UK standards. Foods are made to order with short production runs and are often delivered on the same day to retailers.

As temperature is the principal means of keeping the food fresh, food additives, such as preservatives are rarely used in chilled prepared meals. Manufacturers use ingredients and cooking methods that are found traditionally in a normal domestic kitchen and, unlike many other countries, UK chilled foods have very short shelf lives, typically from 1–10 days.

Major chilled food manufacturers are aware of Department of Health recommendations to reduce fat and salt consumption in the general population and, in partnership with their retail customers take this into account when developing products and recipes. In many cases the industry has already achieved the targets ahead of government guidelines.

In addition, chilled prepared meals provide convenience in buying, preparing and cooking food helping to reduce the amount of time and energy consumers would otherwise spend looking for/buying, washing and preparing the different ingredients that make up a meal. They also reduce waste by cutting down on the need for consumers to buy unnecessary or large quantities of ingredients which may then be wasted. They also help to reduce waste in the manufacturing process as the non-edible materials, such as peels, vegetable tops, bones etc, are removed during preparation instead of going into domestic waste.