For years they have sold us two-for-one crisp deals, sugary cereals and processed ham sandwiches. Now that 2.5 million of us are tackling our excess weight with GLP-1 drugs, supermarkets are also selling us specially developed lunches and dinners to cater to our shrunken appetites.
This month Marks & Spencer, the Co-op, Morrisons and Ocado brought out ranges that address the issues facing users of GLP-1 drugs — namely no stomach for a square meal and nutritional deficiencies. Research indicates that those on the drugs reduce their calorie intake by between 16 and 40 per cent, which can lead to missing vital vitamins and minerals. This can be dramatic. According to one large observational study published in the journal Obesity Pillars, 13 per cent of GLP-1 users had been diagnosed with a nutritional deficiency within six months and within a year this grew to 22 per cent.
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Smaller than regular meals and packed with protein, fibre, healthy fats and vitamins and minerals, the new ranges include dinners, lunches, desserts and drinks, most of which are designed to be eaten cold or microwaved, with none of the hassle of preparing a meal from scratch.
Weight-loss drugs are quietly reshaping not just diets, but the way we shop for food
OSCAR WONG/GETTY IMAGES
Morrisons’ 53 “GLP-1-friendly” products have been produced in partnership with the health brand Applied Nutrition and include staples such as cheese and bread. Marks & Spencer’s Nutrient Dense range has 20 products and the Co-op’s healthy Good Fuel range now includes four mini meals “specially developed for shoppers with smaller appetites”. Last week Ocado, whose range of six ready meals and eight juices is supplied by Press Healthfoods, went one step further with its launch of an “extra small” 100g steak for shoppers who can no longer stomach a regular size.
So are these cynical attempts to profit from an obesity problem the food industry has been instrumental in fuelling? Or necessary additions to accommodate the seismic shift in the way we eat?
“A home-cooked meal is always going to be more natural and nutritionally dense than a shop-bought version,” says Laura Southern, a nutritionist and the founder of London Food Therapy. “However, for people on GLP-1s who struggle with portion control and getting the right nutrition and don’t have the time or capacity to cook, there is definitely a place for these ranges.”
So which offer the most health benefits — and taste the best?
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Vegetarian options
M&S Nutrient Dense Cauliflower Shawarma & 5 Bean Houmous, £3.50
255g, 364 calories, 12g fibre, 15g protein, 16g fat
Health rating: 4.5/5
Taste: 4/5
I love the tangy lemon flavour of this colourful salad bowl, which has red cabbage to give it an appealing crunch and more mouthfeel than some of the other dishes, courtesy of its five-bean dip and olive oil. But even with red rice for extra carbohydrates, it leaves me hungry half an hour later. “Adding cannellini, butter, black and soy beans to the usual chickpeas in this dip is a clever way of increasing the range of fibre to support gut health,” Southern says. “And natural seasoning, which has trace nutrients and which a lot of these meals contain, is a fantastic way of making food appetising, whether you’re on GLP-1s or not. The turmeric in this bowl, for example, is anti-inflammatory.”
Ocado Press Healthfoods Chilli-Tofu Noodle Stir-Fry, £4.50
200g, 286 calories, 3.1g fibre, 15.9g protein, 6g fat
Health rating: 4/5
Taste: 3/5
One of Ocado’s smaller dishes. The tofu allowance, at 20 per cent, feels generous, but the overall effect is not so much stir-fry as slightly soggy with limp broccoli and sad-looking edamame alongside five other vegetables including red pepper and carrot. I am a wuss when it comes to spicy foods but can barely taste the chilli. “Tofu is one of the highest plant-based sources of protein, low in saturated fat, high in fibre and compounds that support hormonal balance,” Southern says. “There’s also a good mix of vegetables here, which will increase intake of vitamins, minerals and antioxidants.”
Co-op Good Fuel Roasted Butternut with Spiced Beans & Grains, £3.50
250g, 342 calories, 12g fibre, 12g protein, 7.8g fat
Health rating: 4/5
Taste: 3/5
A not particularly appetising-looking bowl of large orange chunks, which contains 32 per cent butternut squash, plus chickpeas, cannellini beans and butter beans with brown rice and grains in tomato sauce. Stodgy and a bit dry, it’s hard work to finish. “There’s a good mix of grains and butternut squash is high in soluble fibre, which is important for the transit of food in the gut, which weight loss injections slow,” Southern says. “And with the exception of a bit of cornflour and citric acid, it’s also free of UPFs — ultra-processed food.”
Ocado Press Healthfoods Spicy Orzo Arrabbiata, £5.25
370g, 363 calories, 5.3g fibre, 20g protein, 8.9g fat
Health rating: 3.5/5
Taste: 3/5
With artfully shot pictures of vegetables printed on sleek white cardboard sleeves, this range looks the most stylish and is vacuum-packed for freshness (meaning it makes a disconcerting whistling sound as you microwave it.) However, although filling, the plant-based mince and vegetables here, including spinach and courgette, are a bit bland. “The plant-based mince, made from pea protein, is a clever way of making this dish high in protein and there’s a good balance of vegetables,” Southern says. “But this is a posh version of tomato pasta, which you could easily make at home.”
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Lunchtime bites
M&S Nutrient Dense Nutty Super Wholefood, £3.50
285g, 413 calories, 18g fibre, 23g protein, 16.5g fat
Health rating: 5/5
Taste: 4/4
With 15 plants from quinoa to edamame beans and pumpkin seeds, plenty of crunch, courtesy of peanuts, almond and pistachios, a creamy cannellini bean and sesame tahini dip, and soy and ginger dressing, this salad is more exciting than anything I would make myself and leaves me pleasantly full. “If you’re buying ready-cooked meals I’d always advise choosing ingredients you wouldn’t necessarily cook with to diversify your diet,” Southern says. “For many this will include tahini, a good source of calcium, iron and essential fats and easily absorbable for people on GLP-1s whose digestion might have slowed. Quinoa is high in fibre and protein and at 23g this is a very high-protein food. Plus there are no UPFs. I’m impressed.”
Ocado Press Healthfoods Turkey & Lentil Spaghetti Bolognese, £5.20
200g, 316 calories, 4.6g fibre, 18.6g protein, 10.2g fat
Health rating: 4/5
Taste: 3/5
The spaghetti is hidden under the turkey mince, which looks more of an orange-hued mulch, the onion, carrot and celery adding only limited flavour. A meal that would perhaps appeal more to a fussy child than an adult. “Nonetheless, it’s good to see a ready meal contain a meat other than chicken or beef,” Southern says. “Turkey contains tryptophan, a source of serotonin important for sleep and mood, and the lentils are good for adding bulk without the saturated fat of meat. From a nutritional standpoint, this is a good choice.”
Morrisons Applied Nutrition Small & Balanced Sweet Chilli King Prawn Noodles, £3.75
280g, 325 calories, 4.9g fibre, 16.4g protein, 6.2g fat
Health rating: 2/5
Taste: 3/5
This does have a kick and plenty of flavour, which my husband describes as “a bit chemically, but not in a horrible way”. We count four prawns (the ingredients list states prawns comprise 13 per cent of the item) and although the noodle content isn’t listed it feels quite high. I prefer my edamame beans, in this and a lot of other GLP-1 dishes, cold. “These wheat noodles are made from processed white flour, which we digest easily, spiking blood sugar levels which can lead to weight gain,” Southern says. “There are also a few processed foods in this, such as thickeners, sugar and salt. Nutritionally speaking, it’s not awful, but if it’s your one meal a day you could definitely do better.”
Co-op Good Fuel Teriyaki Chicken & Veg Noodles, £3.50
280g, 298 calories, 4.5g fibre, 19g protein, 7.5g fat
Health rating: 2/5
Taste: 2.5/5
The teriyaki marinade is watery and although the vegetables include red pepper, onion, carrot and pak choi, and there is 18 per cent chicken, the only lasting impression I’m left with is of the noodles, which make up 30 per cent of the meal. My son, meanwhile, describes it as “tasteless”. At half the price of M&S’s chicken dish, the difference in quality is sadly obvious. “Ideally simple carbohydrates should take up only a quarter of your plate and this isn’t very high in fibre,” Southern says. “Compared to the others it seems unnecessarily processed, with fewer natural ingredients — and it’s easy to make a healthy chicken and noodle dish yourself.”
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Meaty meals
Ocado Press Healthfoods Fiery Caribbean Jerk Chicken, £5.95
370g, 377 calories, 7.4g fibre, 28.2g protein, 9.2g fat
Health rating: 5/5
Taste: 5/5
This is definitely fiery, thanks to the scotch bonnet chilli, with a smoky barbecue flavour, huge chunks of chicken and splashes of colour, courtesy of sweetcorn, spinach, spring onion and kidney beans. A high sweet potato content (37 per cent) makes for a filling meal, which I wouldn’t know how to cook myself, so this feels like a treat. “This has the highest level of meat, at 25 per cent, and sweet potato contains antioxidants that are supportive for the immune system,” Southern says. “There is some evidence that eating chilli speeds up metabolism to help burn fat so it’s a nice addition — if you can stomach it. It also contains ginger, which could be helpful in calming a gut unsettled by GLP-1 drugs.”
M&S Nutrient Dense Tandoori Chicken, £7
400g, 344 calories, 8g fibre, 42g protein, 11.6g fat
Health rating: 5/5
Taste: 4/5
A subtler flavour than the cheaper curries but delicious, with finely diced cauliflower instead of rice and an appetisingly colourful array of thick-cut red onion, red pepper and spinach. Plastic (dishwasher-proof) packaging notwithstanding, this doesn’t feel like a diet or convenience food so much as a home-cooked meal a better cook than me might have whipped up from scratch. “This has the highest level of protein — around half a typical adult’s daily requirement — of all the meals, and yoghurt, which is a good source of calcium, important to maintain bone density in GLP-1 users,” Southern says. “There isn’t any UPF. I like the sound of this a lot.”
Ocado Turf & Clover Small Extra Lean Steak, £3.50
100g, 116g calories, 23g protein, 0g fibre, 2.7g fat
Health rating: 4.5/5
Taste: 4/5
About 1cm thick and the size of a bacon medallion, this tiny topside cut is succulent and, as someone ambivalent about steak, big enough for me. In an age of shrinkflation it is easy to suspect the retailer of flogging half the food for the price of a full cut, but at £3.50 per 100g it’s comparable to Ocado’s 225g ribeye steak, which costs £3.31 per 100g. All the same, why not just cut a regular steak in half and keep the rest in the fridge for another day? “For people with a lifetime of poor conditioning around portion control or who live alone, that wouldn’t necessarily work,” Southern says. “It’s easy to be cynical and of course Ocado is looking to profit, but this steak, along with all these meals, could provide a healthy framework for future eating habits.”
Co-op Good Fuel Chicken & Sweet Potato Penang Curry, £3.50
250g, 349 calories, 6.9g fibre, 20g protein, 7.2g fat
Health rating: 3/5
Taste: 5/5
Tangy, creamy and lurid yellow, this looks like a curry we would order for a Saturday night treat. “And actually tastes like a takeaway,” my son says. With 20 per cent chicken and 17 per cent roasted sweet potato, and strong flavours of lemon, lime, ginger and basil, we wolf it down. The cheapest dinner, but possibly the tastiest. “The brown rice — at 12 per cent — reduces starch levels and will keep you fuller for longer than white,” Southern says. “There’s also added cinnamon, shown to lower blood sugar levels, which may be helpful to people on GLP-1s who often have dysregulated blood sugar.” She adds, however, that with only three key ingredients this isn’t as diverse and therefore as supportive to gut health as other options.
Morrisons Applied Nutrition Small & Balanced Chicken Tikka, £3.75
280g, 258 calories, 10.1g fibre, 13.5g protein, 12.3g fat
Health rating: 3/5
Taste: 1/5
With a mango and coconut dal, this dish looks gloopy and beige, and although it contains 14 per cent chicken my husband, son and I find only three pieces of meat between us, alongside the occasional spinach leaf. With added sugar, it is incredibly sweet. “Almost like a pudding,” my husband says. “Swapping white rice for dal is a good idea, increasing the fibre content and reducing spikes in blood sugar levels that can hinder weight loss,” Southern says. “However, there are a lot of ingredients in here, such as added sugars and thickener, that make it feel overly processed.”