In a move that might surprise some parents, Mumsnet has teamed up with Iceland Foods to launch a new range of frozen ready meals for children.
The Little Explorers meals, which are the website’s first-ever branded food products, cost £2 each and are intended to support families when there isn’t time to cook.
There are five different options available including fish pie, cottage pie, spaghetti bolognese, mac & cheese and chicken tikka and rice, and each dish contains one of your five-a-day. They’re also said to have high vegetable content, low salt content, no added sugars, no emulsifiers, no artificial ingredients and preservatives.
The range was taste-tested by staff at Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, as well as the charity’s child ambassadors, with 5p from each meal purchased being donated to the children’s charity. TheIceland Foods Charitable Foundation will then match the total raised up to £50,000.
After being launched in Iceland and the Food Warehouse stores on April 8, the new meals have divided mums and dads online with some excited to try them out and others saying they’d rather ‘cook from scratch’.
In response to a post about the Little Explorers range, Kimbo Reid said: ‘This is a crossover I didn’t expect.’ While Zoe Benton wrote: ‘So much cheaper to buy the ingredients and batch cook it.’ Meanwhile, Sam Connelly exclaimed: ‘They’re tiny! Woiuld barely fill a one-year-old.’
Amy Louise was a fan though, posting: ‘Perfect for people who can’t cook, are busy with work etc. We have a nine-month-old, I try to cook most days but some days if we have been out and with me being back at work, I’ve been having to use the jars.’
Parent Carly Byres agreed, adding: ‘I have a four-year-old and have to at times use ready prepared meals. I have so little time. I work full-time as well as look after a husband with MS. It’s hard to get the balance right, I love cooking and miss having the time to make lovely homecooked meals. But when you have three hours between finishing work/nursery pick up and bed there’s just not enough time to make meals like this.’
But what do dietitians make of the meals?
Metro asked two experts to give their view on the new Little Explorers range.
Child dietitian and nutritionist, Sarah Almond Bushell, told us: ‘It’s good they all contain one of their five-a-day but dietitians actually recommend two in children’s main meals.’
She adds: ‘Although ready meals for children are convenient, they don’t help children to grow up to be happy healthy eaters as they need to be sharing the same food as their family in order to learn.’
Meanwhile, paediatric dietitian and feeding therapist, Lucy Upton,who is known online as The Children’s Dietitian, told Metro: ‘Ready meals often carry the reputation of being unhealthy, usually due to concerns about everything from the fat, sugar or salt content, minimal inclusion of nutrient-dense foods and/or the addition of preservatives or additives – however, the reality is much more nuanced now.
‘More and more brands are producing options with whole ingredients, a more balanced nutritional profile and avoiding unnecessary additives or preservatives – much like these Iceland and Mumsnet meals.’
She continued: ‘When it comes to kid’s nutrition, parents always want peace of mind, and it’s reassuring to see they are low salt, only contain naturally occurring sugars (so none is added), and each meal offers a portion of kids five-a-day.
‘From a glance at the ingredients list, it’s clear parents will be familiar with what’s included too – which is always reassuring, and I think will be appealing to many. I’m sure these meals will offer a convenient option for those busy days we all have as parents, and at an appealing price point.’
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