Introduction to Ready to Eat Meal.

"Ready-to-eat" is defined as the status of the food being ready for immediate consumption at the point of sale. It could be raw or cooked, hot or chilled, and can be consumed without further heat-treatment including re-heating 

Ready to eat foods are food products that require no further processing to ensure their safety. They may or may not have been cooked: i.e. Fruits, sushi, some species of shellfish, spices. Foods such as luncheon meats, tuna salad, bakery products and cheeses are also considered RTE foods

There are five fundamental processes of producing RTE cereals (Nevo, 1998): granulation, flaking, shredding, puffing and extrusion. With the exception of Nestle, all the major RTE producers have their origins from the United States, and thus forming one of the most concentrated US industries today. Since the 1980’s, the Federal Trade Commission has been investigating and prosecuting the largest three cereals makers on the charge of shared monopoly (Wall Street Journal, 1980). Advertising is the major means of competition in this industry, especially by television advertising (Ippolito & Mathios, 1990). The television advertising expenditure is second only to automobile producers. Advertising ratio to sales is about 13 percent, while the average in food industry is only 2 – 4 percent. Born with the convenience trend, the industry today, however, has undergone changes in customers’ concern. Diet nutrition gradually replaces convenience as one of customers’ most concerned factor when purchasing RTE cereals. More than half of men and women are reported to consider nutritional factors such as fiber, vitamins, and sugar content when purchasing RTE cereals. Women express the most concern about the amount of sugar and fat, while men are more interested in vitamin content.

There is some lack of clarity about differentiation between RTE and Ready to Cook (RTC) and both are commonly referred to as RTE.     RTC products are mainly various pastes where a consumer adds vegetables or meat to prepare a dish. RTE products, on the other hand, normally come as a complete preparation in the frozen form or in the cans or in packets with inner pouch and what is referred here are part of meals in pouches and not the snack or other segments. RTE products have a shelf life of about 12-15 months. Thereafter the product may be safe but may lose colour and aroma

RTE products are prepared in a large industrial kitchen like any other product but care is taken in formulating the product with respect to ingredients and cooking it just bare minimum as the product undergoes steam sterilization during processing. It is a specialized technology requiring alertness, high degree of precision, process controls and handling