The Worst: El Monterey Beef & Bean Green Chili Burrito
Most frozen burritos we checked out hovered around 10 g of fat and 700 mg of sodium (around 30 percent of the daily recommended intake).
El Monterey wins the unhealthiest award due mostly to the very long ingredient list. But even the brands with less junk in them, like Amy's and EVOL, don't get Cipullo's stamp of approval.
If you must indulge, EVOL's Mini Chicken Bean & Rice Burrito is what you should reach for. It's got all the goodness of EVOL's all-natural ingredients, but in a more manageable size, with a third of the calories and less than half the fat and sodium than its larger-portioned counterparts have.
Photo 11/11
The Worst: Bertolli Tuscan Style Beef & Vegetables Soup
Most packaged soups are amazingly high in sodium, but Bertolli's takes it to a new level with 1,110 mg of the salty stuff, almost half of the recommended daily intake. What's more, this frozen meal is loaded with 20 g of fat and 7 g of saturated fat.
A standout alternative for less salty broth is Kettle Cuisine's Angus Beef Steak Chili with Beans. It has only 540 mg of sodium, plus twice the fiber and five more grams of protein than Bertolli's. (For even less sodium, try a veggie soup.)
Take a stroll down the frozen food aisle at your local grocery store and you'll be surrounded by boxes with dishes that look deceptively appetizing (hello Photoshop) -- and have tempting labels like "low fat," "light," and "high protein." But are any of these "healthy" frozen dinners actually good for you?
As a smart shopper, you've hopefully learned to take all product packaging with a sizeable grain of salt, but frozen meals in particular can trip you up with misleading labels and hidden health horrors. "Most frozen meals are high in sugar and sodium, contain tons of preservatives, and don't have much to offer in terms of fruits, vegetables, or fiber," says Laura Cipullo, a registered dietician and certified diabetes instructor in New York City.
While that news is a bit depressing for all of us too time-crunched to do more than pop a frozen dinner in the microwave, there is some hope. For every chemical-laden, fat-filled meal out there, there is a comparable option with better ingredients, less fat, and even a few veggies thrown in for good measure. Check out this list of the 10 worst frozen food offenders, along with healthier frozen dinners that still taste delicious.
