ConAgra Foods launches new low-carb line

2/26/2004-ConAgra Foods announced the national launch of Life Choice, a new line of frozen meals created specifically for carb-conscious consumers. Available throughout the United States, the 14 meals are designed for consumers who want to enjoy success on their carb-controlled diet. The new Life Choice meals cater to consumers who specifically want great-tasting, enjoyable and satisfying foods with fewer carbohydrates. The line features 14 varieties, including three breakfast and 11 lunch and dinner options, and averages 15 g of total carbohydrates and 35 grams of protein per meal. All the varieties are convenient and easy to prepare -- ready to eat in eight minutes from the microwave, Life Choice meals provide convenience to consumers and help make their lives easier as they monitor their carbohydrate intake. The new line includes items such as Slow Roasted Beef Tips; Chicken Parmesan; Oven Roasted Turkey; Cheesy Chicken Florentine; Hearty Meat Loaf; and Sausage, Beef and Bacon Scramble, all accompanied by tender vegetables.

Hmm. I'm not a frozen meal fan, but this could be handy *if* they've resisted the temptation to doctor it up with all kinds of starch and crap.

Low carb, but here come the trans fats, "natural flavors", food coloring and modifiers! Suckers beware!

Sausage, Beef and Bacon Scramble? Hmmmmm....now that sounds interesting!

No mention of fat content? Bet it's low....well low in saturated anyway. Hope it's low in trans-fats too!

Being frozen, I think I might check it out. I think some of the frozen foods are a bit less processed.

The announcement must has happened sometimes ago. They have been available at Safeway and some other food stores for more than a week. I have tried some of them and they are good.

I think I saw some of those in the store tonight. They were very pricey, about $4.5 bucks. Calorie count was really low too, like under 300 calories. I'd be a little worried I'd be hungry not long after eating one. Net carbs was quite a bit less than their stated carbs because they didn't subtract for fiber.

Could you be more specific with the ingredients, carb counts etc?? - would be interested in seeing whether they are 'processed' or more natural.

Don't suppose we'll see something like this in the UK for quite a long time though

yes, I'm curious too. I haven't seen them in the stores here yet. I went to ConAgra's web site, but there's no info at all on there!

I might be one of those "suckers", but I tried the beef tips and it was very good (we're talking frozen dinners ya'll). I'll buy it again.

Foody

The most filling of them is the "Harty Meat Loaf". It is made of beef, broccoli and cauliflower topped with cheddar cheese. Here are the nutritional info:

Calories: 370
Total fat: 16 g
Protein: 38 g
Total carbs: 17 g
Dietary Fibers: 3 g
Sugars: 8 g

Sorry, their ingredient list is very large and hard to read.

I checked these out when I happened to be at the store yesterday and every one I picked up contained hydrogenated oils as well as sugar, starch and/or high fructose corn syrup. I personally wouldn't buy them just based on that.
The carb counts for the ones I looked at ranged from 11 up to about 17; definitely not induction friendly.

Thanks for the info, Lisa. I won't even bother to look for them now. Making a salad and frying up a couple of eggs and sausage for a quick meal wouldn't take any longer to cook than one of those meals. Too bad about the sugar, starch and corn syrup. They would have been handy for emergencies.

How much of transfats are to be considered dangerous? There are at least 100 items on the hard to read ingredient list. I could read more than one hydrogenated item but I can also read among the list "butter, sesame oil, soy oil..) So nobody knows how much of each is in. Afterall, the dinner was mostly made of beef and vegetables with minimum shortening.

Samuel, the fats aren't my personal issue. It is the sugar, starch and cornsyrup. I am sure they are probably good, being mostly meat, but I still want to avoid the sugars/starch.

I recently read in another post that a study was published in 1997 in the New England Journal of Medicine that showed that consuming as little as 1 gram of transfat per day over a period of 10 years conferred a 20% increase in risk for cardiovascular disease and that the average person consumed at least 10 grams of transfat per day. That's a little scary.