Consumers in Edinburgh are the first to be offered the chance to buy a new range of ready meals formulated to meet the five-a-day target for fruit and vegetables in a single sitting.
Researchers from Queen Margaret University have worked with the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) Scotland to produce DONE meals - a specialist range of pre-prepared dinners which contain all five recommended portions of fruit or vegetables.
The five-a-day campaign was adopted by the UK Government back in 1994 and is one of the best known public health slogans.
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It can include fresh, frozen, tinned and dried fruit and vegetables, as well as fruit juices and smoothies.
However, according to the Scottish Health Survey, just 22% of adults in Scotland consume at least five portions of fruit and vegetables each and the average intake is just three portions.
The DONE initiative was developed with the support of FDF Scotland's Healthier Product Innovation Fund, which covered the cost of initial prototyping and scale up assistance, plus partnership with Interface - an organisation designed to bring together Scotland’s business and academic communities.
The meals are currently available to order online via donefood.co.uk for shipping to addresses within EH post code area.
New delivery areas are expected to be added weekly.
Dishes currently available to order are: Vietnamese Ragu Ga; Smoked Chipotle Chilli, in both a beef and a vegan version; a vegan Moroccan Tagine; Tortiglioni Bolgnese; Brisket Beef Bourguignon; and a Chicken and Chorizo Estofado.
The meals are delivered frozen to preserve freshness and reduce wastage.
Joanne Burns, Reformulation for Health Manager for FDF Scotland - which represents the food and drink manufacturing industry - said the meals provide "healthy, nutritious and convenient meals for all"
She added: “Increasing your intake of fruit and vegetables is such a crucial part of a healthy diet and it is essential that food manufacturers strive to increase their content.
“Most people fall 11 portions short of the recommended weekly intake of fruits and vegetables.
"These five-a-day ready meals can help provide the boost that many need.
“The success of this project and the wider Healthier Product Innovation Fund proves the importance for continued funding for innovative academic partnership projects to improve the health of Scotland’s products and people.”
Paul Mason, co-founder and creative director of DONE, said: “I was delighted when I realised it was possible to get all five portions of veg or fruit into a single, delicious meal.
“We understand that doing what you can, when you can - little bits here and there, can make a massive difference to our dietary health. That’s where DONE comes in.
"If we can help people save time, eat well, and ultimately feel better, that’ll be job done for us.”
Howell Davies, Interface’s Head of Strategic Programmes, said: “DONE had the vision and ambition to develop a range of healthier ready meals to take to market with access to the support we have in Scotland such as the Healthier Product Innovation Fund to collaborate with the excellent academic expertise and facilities we have available here.
“In this case with the team at Queen Margaret University who were up for a challenge and relished supporting the development to make it viable from a commercial and scale up perspective to take to market.”
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