Irish top of the table for eating frozen pizza

Ireland has one of the biggest appetites for frozen pizzas and factory-made ready meals in Europe.

Irish top of the table for eating frozen pizza

Figures from Euromonitor show Ireland is second only to Norway when it comes to forking out for pizza, while we are in the top 10 in Europe on ready meals such as noodles and prepared dinners.

The research throws a spotlight on our diet of instant, microwaveable food, which has shot up in popularity in the past decade.

Food guru Darina Allen blamed the national obesity crisis on the change from home-cooked food to mass produced dinners.

“In a couple of decades we’ve handed over the power over our food choices to a couple of multinational food companies and they can hardly be expected to have our best interests at heart.

“The main priority is to produce the maximum amount of food at the minimum cost and that is the main cause of obesity and everything else.”

She said the nation needs to get back to basics when it comes to cooking.

“The bit of the jigsaw that’s missing is you have to be able to cook. If you can cook you can so quickly put a little meal together.

“What’s this convenience thing? Driving to the supermarket, parking, dashing around the supermarket, queuing up to pay. Go home, and in the length of time you would save, you would have several meals made.

“Somehow or other we have to find a way to eat food that keeps us healthy, gives us energy and doesn’t do us a damage. A lot of the food we’re eating nowadays, the reality is it’s actually doing us a damage.”

The Euromonitor figures show the national spend on frozen pizzas has nearly doubled in just over a decade, with €23.40 spent per person last year, compared to €14.10 in 2002.

Ready meals, including whole packaged meals, prepared salads and dinner mixes, are costing Irish people €64.80 per person — a 60% increase from the €41 per person in 2002.

  • What Are You Eating? RTÉ One, March 29, 8.30pm.

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