Evaluation of Nutritional Content in Convenience Store Lunchboxes by Meal Type, Price, and Store Brand

Jin-Seon Park; Young-Hee Han; Taisun Hyun

doi:10.5720/kjcn.2020.25.4.280

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Evaluation of Nutritional Content in Convenience Store Lunchboxes by Meal Type, Price, and Store Brand: Jin-Seon Park, Young-Hee Han, Taisun Hyun; Korean Journal of Community Nutrition 2020;25(4):280-290.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5720/kjcn.2020.25.4.280
Published online: August 31, 2020

¹Graduate student, Major of Food and Nutrition, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Korea

²Invited professor, Department of Food and Nutrition, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Korea

³Professor, Department of Food and Nutrition, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Korea

Corresponding author: Taisun Hyun,
Email: taisun@cbnu.ac.kr

Received: 21 August 2020 • Revised: 24 August 2020 • Accepted: 24 August 2020

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Abstract

Objective
This study investigated the menu and nutritional contents of convenience store lunchboxes, and evaluated the nutritional content by meal type, price, and store brand.
Methods
In September 2019, 93 convenience store lunchboxes from the top five franchise stores were purchased. Relevant information on price, food weight, food ingredients, cooking methods, and nutrition labeling were subsequently collected. Nutritional content was evaluated based on the daily value (DV) and Index of Nutritional Quality (INQ), and energy contribution of carbohydrate, protein, fat, saturated fat and sugar was compared with the recommended range.
Results
Most lunchboxes included the food groups; grains/starches, meats/fish/eggs/ legumes, and vegetables. However, none provided fruits, and only a few lunchboxes provided milk/milk products. Stir-frying, deep-frying, and pan-frying were the most frequent methods of cooking. The average energy content of the lunchboxes was 736.6 kcal, whereas the average contents of protein, fat and saturated fat were higher than 40% of the DV, and sodium content was 66.8% of the DV. The contents of most nutrients in traditional type lunchboxes were higher, as compared to nutrients in onedish type lunchboxes. Considering pricing of lunchboxes, protein and sodium contents were higher in the higher-priced lunchboxes as compared to lower-priced lunchboxes, but there were no differences in the INQs. The contents of energy, protein, fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol significantly differed by brand.
Conclusions
Our results indicate that convenience store lunchboxes contain high levels of protein, fat, saturated fat, and sodium. The nutritional contents differed by meal type, price, and store brand, and higher price did not imply higher nutritional quality. We propose the need to educate consumers to check nutrition labels and purchase appropriate lunchboxes. Manufacturers also need to make efforts to reduce the amounts of fat, saturated fat, and sodium, and not provide protein in excess.

Keywords: lunchbox; menu; nutritional content; meal type

Korean J Community Nutr. 2020 Aug;25(4):280-290. Korean.
Published online Aug 31, 2020.
https://doi.org/10.5720/kjcn.2020.25.4.280

Original Article

Evaluation of Nutritional Content in Convenience Store Lunchboxes by Meal Type, Price, and Store Brand

Jin-Seon Park

,¹ Young-Hee Han

,² and Taisun Hyun

Author information

Author notes

- ¹Graduate student, Major of Food and Nutrition, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Korea.
- ²Invited professor, Department of Food and Nutrition, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Korea.
- ³Professor, Department of Food and Nutrition, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Korea.
Corresponding author: Taisun Hyun. Department of Food and Nutrition, Chungbuk National University, Cheongju, Chungbuk, 28644, Korea. Tel: (043) 261-2790, Fax: (043) 267-2742, Email: taisun@cbnu.ac.kr

Received August 21, 2020; Revised August 24, 2020; Accepted August 24, 2020.

This is an Open-Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

Objectives

This study investigated the menu and nutritional contents of convenience store lunchboxes, and evaluated the nutritional content by meal type, price, and store brand.

Methods

In September 2019, 93 convenience store lunchboxes from the top five franchise stores were purchased. Relevant information on price, food weight, food ingredients, cooking methods, and nutrition labeling were subsequently collected. Nutritional content was evaluated based on the daily value (DV) and Index of Nutritional Quality (INQ), and energy contribution of carbohydrate, protein, fat, saturated fat and sugar was compared with the recommended range.

Results

Most lunchboxes included the food groups; grains/starches, meats/fish/eggs/legumes, and vegetables. However, none provided fruits, and only a few lunchboxes provided milk/milk products. Stir-frying, deep-frying, and pan-frying were the most frequent methods of cooking. The average energy content of the lunchboxes was 736.6 kcal, whereas the average contents of protein, fat and saturated fat were higher than 40% of the DV, and sodium content was 66.8% of the DV. The contents of most nutrients in traditional type lunchboxes were higher, as compared to nutrients in onedish type lunchboxes. Considering pricing of lunchboxes, protein and sodium contents were higher in the higher-priced lunchboxes as compared to lower-priced lunchboxes, but there were no differences in the INQs. The contents of energy, protein, fat, saturated fat, and cholesterol significantly differed by brand.

Conclusions

Our results indicate that convenience store lunchboxes contain high levels of protein, fat, saturated fat, and sodium. The nutritional contents differed by meal type, price, and store brand, and higher price did not imply higher nutritional quality. We propose the need to educate consumers to check nutrition labels and purchase appropriate lunchboxes. Manufacturers also need to make efforts to reduce the amounts of fat, saturated fat, and sodium, and not provide protein in excess.

Keywords

lunchbox; menu; nutritional content; meal type

Figures

Fig. 1
Percentage of the daily value (%DV) and Index of Nutritional Quality (INQ) for each nutritional component in the lunchboxes by meal type
^*P < 0.05, ^**P < 0.01, ^***P < 0.001 by t-test

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Fig. 2
Distribution of the lunchboxes according to the recommendations of the Dietary Recommended Intakes for Koreans by meal type
^**P < 0.01 by chi-square test

1) Recommended range [17], 2) ⅓ of the goal intake (< 300 mg/day), 3) ⅓ of the goal intake (< 2,000 mg/day).

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Fig. 3
Index of Nutritional Quality (INQ) of each nutritional component in the traditional type lunchboxes by price and by brand ^*P < 0.05, ^**P < 0.01 by Kruskal-Wallis H test
1) Q1: ≤￦4,200, Q2: ￦4,300~4,600, Q3: ≥￦4,700

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Fig. 4
Distribution of the lunchboxes according to the recommendations of the Dietary Recommended Intakes for Koreans by price and by brand
^*P < 0.05, ^**P < 0.01, ^***P < 0.001 by Fisher's exact test

1) Recommended range [17], 2) Q1: ≤￦4,200, Q2: ￦4,300~4,600, Q3: ≥￦4,700, 3) ⅓ of the goal intake (< 300 mg/day)

Download Figure

Tables

Table 1
The meal type of convenience store lunchboxes

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Table 2
The number of lunchboxes providing each food group or each food item

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Table 3
The number of lunchboxes where each cooking method was used for dishes except white rice and kimchi

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Table 4
Average price, food weight, and nutritional content of the lunchbox by meal type

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Table 5
Average price, food weight, and nutritional content of the traditional type lunchbox by price and brand

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References

Citations

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