Where's the vegetables?

The frozen dinner industry has come a long way. First it trimmed the fat (led by the likes of Lean Cuisine). Then it slashed the salt (thanks to Healthy Choice, which shaved the fat even further.)

Only one problem. What with all that trimming and slashing, something else got cut, too: the food.

One food that shouldn't have been cut is the vegetables. Frankly, we're not sure they're more scarce than before. But now we know that vegetables matter.

Mouth, throat, larynx, esophagus, lung, pancreas, stomach, ovaries, cervix, endometrium, bladder, colon, and rectum. Those are the cancers that have been at least tentatively linked to a lack of fruits and vegetables.

It's no wonder the National Cancer Institute (NCI) now advises everyone to eat at least five to nine servings a day. (Only 23 percent of us eat five or more.) Surely a frozen "dinner" ought to supply at least a couple of those servings.

The fact is, 92 out of the 96 healthier, low-fat, lower-salt frozen "meals" we looked at supply less than two measly half-cup servings of fruits or vegetables, and 35 supply less than one! (Yes, some are called entrees, but they're often indistinguishable from the dinners.)

LOW-FAT...OR

LOW-FOOD?

First, we looked for frozen dinners that were low in fat and saturated fat and not too high in sodium.

We didn't use flat cutoffs like five grams of fat per item. Instead, we used limits like no more than 25 percent of calories from fat. To do otherwise would have rewarded companies that sell mouse-sized portions of food. And we figure that most dinners are teeny enough as it is.

"Only 210 Calories," boasts the package of Lean Cuisine Angel Hair Pasta. That's a meal? A one-cup fruit-on-the-bottom yogurt has about 250 calories. A snack is more like it.

True, one out of three adults is overweight. But even dieters are told to eat 1,600 calories a day - 1,200 at a minimum. So if people eat a third of their calories at dinner - half is more typical - that meal should supply at least 400 or 500 calories.

If it doesn't, we suspect that people figure that dinner's over, and since their meal was so-o-o healthy, it's time for...hey, any leftover chocolate cake in the fridge?

So don't be fooled by calories in the "only" 200-to-300-something range. Look for a meal that will fill you up with healthy food.

VANISHING VEGETABLES

Once we got the fats and sodium under control, we started hunting for veggies. We hauled out our measuring cups - it turned out we needed spoons, too - and started to separate peas from pasta, carrots from rice, green peppers from glop, uh, sauce.

We weren't too discriminating: Tomato sauce counted, as did the apple fragments we could separate from the sugar-laden goo that often passes for dessert.

And if one Beef Broccoli Beijing Classic, for example, had a third of a cup of broccoli and another had a half-cup, we gave it the benefit of the doubt.

The bottom line: Frozen food makers have one terrific sense of humor. To wit:

* Healthy Choice's Chicken Francesca is a "Generous Serving Meal!" says the box. Our total veggie count: A tablespoon each of asparagus and red pepper.

* A "Mexican Style Meal" made by Weight Watchers contains Nacho Grande Chicken Enchiladas "stuffed with chicken, beans, corn and red peppers." Make that half a tablespoon of corn, plus a tablespoon each of beans and peppers.

* "More Vegetables!" announces Lean Cuisine Chicken a l'Orange with Broccoli and Rice. More than what? A thimble? We measured one tablespoon of broccoli and two teaspoons of carrots (see photo).

Of course, you can always make a salad, bake a sweet potato, and steam some vegetables to supplement your "meal." Some packages even suggest that you do. (So much for convenience.)

Better yet, sign our coupon to ConAgra's Healthy Choice. We could have sent it to any number of frozen-food makers, but Healthy Choice has led the way before.

YOUR SERVE

Q: We're supposed to eat "at least five servings" of fruits and vegetables every day. What does that mean? I'm sure I don't eat that much.

Dr. T: Don't be so sure. Do you have a banana with breakfast? A medium-sized one is a serving. A glass of orange juice? Add a serving for every 3/4 cup you drink.

Have an orange or other piece of fruit as a mid-morning snack and you've taken care of another serving.

That tomato, onion, lettuce, and pickle on your sandwich at lunch probably make a serving. So does the apple you have for dessert.

At dinner, each cup of salad is a serving. So is a half-cup of spaghetti sauce, a medium sweet potato, or a half-cup of broccoli, carrots, or any other vegetable. Ditto for the half-cup of fruit (even canned) you have for dessert.

Not so tough, eh?

MISSING THE TRANS

Q: I'm taking omega-3 fish oil supplements. Do they contain trans fats?

Dr. T: No. Fish oil is clean.

If you're a typical American, you get most of your trans fat from margarine, foods that are made with shortening (like fast food french fries), meat (beef and lamb), milk (not skim, though), and baked goods.

Trans is an unsaturated fat that could raise your blood cholesterol as much as saturated fat does.

HOW LOW CAN YOU GO?

Q: I've heard that too little fat in the diet can be a problem. How much is too little, and what are the symptoms?

Dr. T: Getting too little fat is the last thing most of us have to worry about.

For the record: The National Academy of Sciences says that the only fat our bodies need is "small amounts of linoleic acid," and that three to six grams a day are sufficient to prevent deficiency.

That's the amount you'd get in about a tablespoon of corn oil. But there are small amounts of linoleic acid in whole grains, vegetables, and beans, so even a low-fat diet - one that gets ten or 20 percent of calories from fat - will give you enough.

The only people who have shown symptoms of a fat deficiency (scaly skin, hair loss, and slower healing of wounds) are hospitalized patients who were being fed intravenously, and people with diseases like cystic fibrosis, which can impair the ability to absorb fat.

The Case of the Frozen Dinners

Every dinner or entree in this chart has no more than 25 percent of calories from fat, nine percent of calories from saturated fat, and 200 milligrams of sodium for every 100 calories. Each also contains at least half a cup of vegetables and/or fruit. "Best Bites" have at least one cup.

[TABULAR DATA OMITTED]

Nutrition Action Reprints

RESTAURANT & FOOD STUDIES

Seafood Restaurants (Nov. 1994) 1-1194 Mexican Restaurants (Jul./Aug. 1994) 1-794 Movie Theater Popcorn & Candy (May 1994) 1-594 Italian Restaurants (Jan./Feb. 1994) 1-194 Chinese Restaurants (Sept. 1993) 10-993

BRAND-NAME COMPARISONS

Fast Food (Jan./Feb. 1995) PC-195 Cookies (Dec. 1994) PC-1294 Breads (Oct. 1994) PC-1094 Frozen Yogurt Bars & Fruits Bars (Sept. 1994) PC-994 Canned Fish (Jun. 1994) PC-694 Salad Dressings (Apr. 1994) PC-494 Vegetarian Burgers (Mar. 1994) PC-394 Canned & Dried Soups (Dec. 1993) PC-1293 Chips, Pretzels, & Other Salty Snacks (Nov. 1993) PC-1193 Luncheon Meats (Oct. 1993) PC-1093 Condiments (Jul./Aug. 1993) PC-793 Yogurts (Jun. 1993) PC-693 Beans (May 1993) PC-593 Grains (Apr. 1993) PC-493 Spaghetti Sauces (Mar. 1993) PC-393 Seafood (Nov. 1992) PC-1192 Meat & Poultry (Jul./Aug. 1992) PC-792 Fresh & Dried Fruit (May 1992) PC-592 Fresh Vegetables (Dec. 1991) PC-1291

FOOD LABELING

Loopholes in the New Food Labels (Jul./Aug. 1994) 10-794 How to Read the New Food Labels (Apr. 1994) 5-494

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