Health by Stealth: reformulation as a targeted approach to improve the nutritional quality and sustainability of ready meals within the UK

UK ready meal sales continue to rise, with the market expected to grow 4.59% annually from 2025-2030 (Statista, 2024). Limited access to fresh produce and prevalence of products high in fat, sugar, and salt (HFSS), drive poor quality diets and increase the risk of non-communicable diseases. Research has found just 6.0% of ready meals to be low (green) in fats, saturates, sugar, and salt (Hillier et al., 2020). Modifications to ready meal ingredient composition, to include more vegetables and legumes, may simultaneously benefit health and the environment. Approximately 23.0%-42.0% of global greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) are attributed to the food system (Stewart et al., 2023), with animal-based ready meals showing higher GHGs and calorie content than plant-based alternatives (Aceves-Martins et al., 2023). Successful reformulation requires knowledge from stakeholders including industry chefs to ensure sensory appeal and adequate nutrition. Aim: To establish whether targeted incremental increase of ready meal vegetable and legume content is a viable food policy option and way of promoting sustainable diets within the UK. A systematic review, following the PRISMA framework, will synthesise literature on ready meals and related health and environmental outcomes. Quantitative analysis of data from Kantar Worldpanel will identify which ready meals are purchased in the UK, where, and by whom. These findings will inform further research on the ingredient composition and environmental impacts of popular ready meals, and the potential nutritional impacts of ingredient modification aimed at reducing GHGEs. Finally, semi-structured interviews with industry will capture perspectives on reformulation as a policy option.