6 Worst Frozen Diet Foods

Healthy Living

 

 

 

6 Worst Frozen Diet Foods

 

Charlatans! Imposters! Frauds! Scoundrels! They’re everywhere, from the late-night infomercials to the floor of your local used-car dealership. And there’s no place as packed with truth-twisting treats as the frozen food aisle of your supermarket.

How do so many bad-for-you foods get away with masquerading as “health” foods? Well, consider the case of the most famous imposter of all, Frank Abagnale: Over the course of several years, he masqueraded as a doctor, airline pilot, and lawyer. So successful were his impersonations that Hollywood made a movie about his life: "Catch Me if You Can," starring Leonardo DiCaprio. Abagnale had exactly what it took to pull off any hoax: the right look, the right talk, and a detachment from the consequences of his actions.

Sound familiar? Think about food industry: The people who fill our supermarket freezer section have no problem clumping together pseudo-foods and processing chemicals and selling it to you under the guise of "healthy eating." They give these foods the right look (gourmet packaging with wholesome images) and the right talk (nutritional buzz-terms like "light," "natural," and "gluten-free"), and they obviously don't care about the consequences (more than two-thirds of American adults are overweight or obese).

Indeed, some frozen-food manufacturers even go so far as to spackle terms like "lean" or "healthy" right on the label. But the truth is, many of these foods are charlatans, imposters, frauds! Don’t let these scoundrels sabotage your waistline. Strike back with these tips, ripped from the pages of Eat This, Not That! 2012!

 

 

6. #6: WORST FROZEN DESSERT: Ben & Jerry’s FroYo Phish Food (1/2 cup)

240 calories, 6 g fat (4.5 g saturated), 27 g sugars

Frozen yogurt is often a healthy alternative to ice cream, but not this version. In fact, it has 100 more calories than your standard vanilla frozen treat. That’s largely due to coconut oil and butter being high on the ingredient list—not to mention nearly a half-dozen Oreos' worth of sugar in every scoop.

Eat This Instead!

Haagen-Dazs Chocolate All Natural Sorbet

130 calories, 0.5 g fat (0 g saturated), 21 g sugars

5. #5: WORST FROZEN BEEF MEAL: Lean Cuisine Beef Chow Fun

320 calories, 5 g fat (1.5 g saturated), 520 mg sodium, 18 g sugars

The calorie toll here isn't so bad, but the sugar impact is unacceptable. This isn't dessert, after all. You could have a scoop of Edy's Slow Churned Rocky Road ice cream and still cut 6 grams of sugar. The problem here is Lean Cuisine's “sweet and spicy” Asian sauce. Think of it as pancake syrup with a few spices stirred in.

Eat This Instead!

Lean Cuisine Garlic Beef & Broccoli

170 calories, 6 g fat (2 g saturated), 670 mg sodium, 5 g sugars

4. #4: WORST FROZEN MEXICAN MEAL: Cedarlane Roasted Chile Relleno

400 calories, 20 g fat (12 g saturated), 770 mg sodium

This box advertises “all natural” in the corner. Maybe, but Monterey jack and cheddar cheese, which make up two of the first five ingredients, are still naturally full of fat. And that’s how Cedarlane stuffs this relatively small dish with 60 percent of your day’s heart-unhealthy saturated fat.

Eat This Instead!

Kashi Spicy Black Bean Enchilada

260 calories, 7 g fat (1 g saturated), 600 mg sodium

3. #3: WORST FROZEN CHICKEN DISH: Healthy Choice Roasted Sesame Chicken

440 calories, 9 g fat (1.5 g saturated), 470 mg sodium, 23 g sugars

Remove the calming green packaging and the ostentatious use of "healthy" in the name, and you'll see this meal for what it is: fried chicken swimming in sugary syrup. Healthy Choice claims this is “roasted” chicken, but an inspection of the ingredient statement reveals the meat is coated in corn flour and cooked in vegetable oil. At KFC they call that "fried."

Eat This Instead!

Healthy Choice Café Steamers Lemon Garlic Chicken and Shrimp

260 calories, 6 g fat (2 g saturated), 350 mg sodium, 4 g sugars

2. #2: WORST FROZEN BURRITO: Evol Burritos Egg & Sausage

480 calories, 16 g fat (5 g saturated), 850 mg sodium

We love Evol’s commitment to unadulterated produce and naturally raised meats, but "natural" alone won't keep fat off your body. Sausage is still the first ingredient in this beast of a morning wrap, and as such, it saddles you with 25 percent of your day’s fat and saturated fat, 35 percent of your sodium, and half your cholesterol. These numbers don’t make Evol evil, but they don’t make this burrito nutritious either.

Eat This Instead!

Amy’s Breakfast Burrito

270 calories, 8 g fat (1 g saturated), 540 mg sodium

1. #1: WORST FROZEN PASTA DISH: Amy’s Rice Macaroni with Non-Dairy Cheeze

520 calories, 22 g fat (5 g saturated), 740 mg sodium

Amy’s casts itself as the healthy alternative to other frozen meals, and often that's true. But not here. “Made with organic pasta,” as the package proclaims, means nothing if you’re consuming an oil-soaked cheese-alternative that crams in more than a third of your day’s fat allotment. For the same amount of calories, you could eat two packages of Banquet’s macaroni and cheese.

Eat This Instead!

Banquet Macaroni and Cheese Meal

260 calories, 6 g fat (3 g saturated), 760 mg sodium