NourmioAs packaged vs. as prepared on frozen-food labels
Choose the right nutrition column for a frozen meal or side dish. See when to use the package values and how to count butter or oil you add.
Use the “as packaged” or “as sold” figure with a portion measured on that basis. Use “as prepared” when your portion and preparation match the label. If you changed an ingredient that the prepared column assumes, start with the package figure and count what you actually added.
Match the column to the portion you know
On a US label, nutrition information generally describes the food as packaged. The panel can also give figures for a stated preparation. Look at the heading and the serving underneath it. “Per 100 g as sold” and “per three pieces oven baked” measure different portions.
The UK Birds Eye Alphabites page offers a real example with both of those bases.
| What you measured | Which published value to use |
|---|---|
| 75 g weighed as sold | 161 kcal per 100 g as sold. Multiply by 0.75 for about 121 kcal. |
| Three waffles, oven baked as directed | 94 kcal per three waffles oven baked. |
Each row stands on its own. The page gives no reason to treat 75 g as sold as the same portion as three cooked waffles. The listed ingredients already include rapeseed oil. If you added a separate amount of oil beyond the preparation covered by the label, account for that separately.
Check which additions the instructions assume
Imagine a label that shows 80 kcal as packaged and 120 kcal as prepared per serving because the instructions add a 40 kcal portion of butter.
- If you added that portion of butter, the prepared figure of 120 kcal already includes it.
- If you skipped the butter, use 80 kcal for the packaged serving.
- If you added a different amount, start from 80 kcal and include the amount you actually used.
This is a worked example. Check the stated ingredients and amounts before applying it to a particular package.
Keep your portion and weight on the same basis
If you weighed the food frozen, use the as-sold weight with the as-sold figure. If you weighed it after cooking, use a prepared value that matches that weight or estimate the share you ate from the whole batch. A change in water can change the weight of the cooked food. See how to handle raw and cooked food weights before mixing a cooked weight with a frozen per-100-g value.