Is cooking really cheaper than buying industrial food?

Is cooking raw cheaper than buying ready meals at the supermarket? Olivia Gregoire, the minister responsible for SMEs, trade, crafts and tourism, said this at a meeting with newspaper readers on September 14. Southwest . The minister was responding to a volunteer from the Departmental Union of Family Associations of the Gironde (Udaf) who questioned him about the impact of food inflation on the budgets of large families.

In 2020, Sophie Droge, a research engineer at INRAE ​​(National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment), tried to find out whether so-called “homemade” food is cheaper than buying industrial food by studying the price differences. research team. “For three years, the French have endured rising purchasing costs and a revaluation of the minimum wage,a 2.22% increase from May 1, 2023 editor’s note), but food prices have increased more than wages, so the results of our study remain relevant in the current economic environment,” commented the research engineer today.

Cost comparison

The researchers thus focused on 19 prepared dishes preferred by the French from the INCA2 study, published in 2006. These include quiche lorenne, gratin dauphine and even tabbouleh. “Then we selected Auchan distributor brands, Leader price, Carrefour and Super U, and raised their prices. Finally, we took into account the cost of energy needed to heat these prepared meals,” explains Sophie Droge. At the same time, the team bought the ingredients needed to make these dishes from the same stores using the recipes on the Marmiton website. The cost of the ingredients, the energy required to prepare the recipe, and the cost of time spent in the kitchen were evaluated. For this last criterion, the research team “estimated the economic value of this duration based on the salary of a kitchen assistant.”

according to their test results published in the journal Public Health NutritionThe researchers found that buying a 4-serving ready-made meal costs an average of 60 cents more than making it. Their conclusion? Of course, homemade allows you to theoretically save money, but the difference is not big, emphasizes Sophie Droge. “You don’t have to feel guilty about choosing an industrial dish once in a while,” she adds.

The research engineer emphasizes that not everyone can cook. “It’s important to consider people who can’t afford to spend so much time in the kitchen, such as students, people with mental illness or disabilities, single mothers, workers. working odd hours or living far from their workplace… Not forgetting the lack of space or equipment,” explains Sophie Drogue. The latter also adds that 75% of the time spent in the kitchen is female. “Until gender inequalities change, asking to cook more is still a directive placed on women’s shoulders.”

Nutri-Score and label reading

What about the nutritional aspect of industrial meals? “They’re not all bad, there’s a lot of variety, and the composition of some is even similar to homemade dishes,” replies Mathilde Touvier, director of research and principal investigator at Inserm (National Institute for Health and Safety). Nutrinet-Santé cohort, a study focusing on the relationship between nutrition and health. “The bad students are the so-called “ultra-processed” dishes,” he continues, “they contain harmful additives that can lead to cardiovascular diseases, diabetes or even obesity.”

You don’t have to feel guilty about choosing an industrial dish once in a while

Sophie Drogen, Research Engineer at INRAE

What’s the solution to sorting and securing the healthiest purchases possible? Start by referencing Nutri-Score. “it provides information about the nutritional properties of the dish,” explains Mathilde Touvier. And we are currently working on new labeling for 2024 that will clearly indicate when a product is ultra-recycled. On the other hand, the Nutri-Score is not a sufficient indicator, and it is necessary to read the list of ingredients of the dish, says the head of the research.

Collective kitchen

To do it well and above all according to one’s own abilities and possibilities, Sophie Drogue recommends preparing a ready-made meal; You can also pay attention to the prices and compare. During the study, his research team found that canned lentils were five times more expensive than their raw version, while industrial puree, again according to the previously mentioned evaluation criteria, was cheaper than the “homemade” version. And Mathilde Touvier concludes: “We are all relatively pressed for time and sometimes have to choose between frozen or processed food. This is why the scientific community encourages manufacturers to innovate their processes and offer healthier alternatives. In the meantime, you have to find a fair balance without guilt.