By Judy Fitzgibbons, R.D. Tribune Media Services
Recently, as I was passing through the frozen foods section of a grocery store, I overheard a mother inviting her young children to pick out frozen pot pies. Pot pies haven't crossed my mind for quite a while, so I was rather surprised at my almost instant recollections of their baked aroma, doughy crusts, and the flavor of their gravy fillings, which I have to admit, I liked as a kid. Based on their reputations for being high in fat and sodium and low in overall nutritional value, frozen pot pies have been off my grocery list for years.
This brief mental encounter combined with the fact that food companies must now put nutrition information on these food products prompted me to see if the nutritional value of today's frozen pot pies fit my preconceived ideas. After all, companies do reformulate their products to meet changing consumer tastes.
The two primary pot pie brands, Banquet and Swanson, each offer beef, chicken, and turkey pot pies. Banquet also sells a Vegetable Cheese pot pie. Their protein content suggests that each contains the equivalent of about an ounce of meat. Several provide a moderately respectable amount of vitamin A. On the other hand, these few nutrients accompany 330 to 390 calories, around 20 grams of total fat, 7 to 9 grams of saturated fat and 710 to 1,000 milligrams of sodium. For a typical American adult, each pot pie provides about a third of the maximum amount of fat, a third to half of the cholesterol-raising saturated fat, and a quarter to a third of the sodium recommended for our daily intake.
In general, these frozen pot pies are poor choices if you're trying to keep your weight down. They contain too many calories and too much fat for the nutrients they deliver. Two, Banquet Beef and Banquet Chicken pot pies, provide the fewest calories (330 and 350) and fat (15 and 18 grams) and could conceivably work into calorie and fat reducing menus. Their poor nutrient value could be made up by eating a salad with them made from nutrient-rich vegetables, such as carrots and spinach. We'd also need to be very careful to choose low-fat foods at other meals. Compensating for their high sodium content (950 and 1,000 milligrams) would be harder but not impossible.
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Two other pot pies, Swanson Turkey and Swanson Beef, could be nutritionally reasonable, easy to prepare foods for very active people needing an easy meal or snack. People involved in heavy training programs who use 3,000 to 4,000 calories a day (cross-country runners, football players, cyclists) can easily eat the amount of fat in pot pies and be within the guidelines for fat consumption.
Keep in mind that recommendations for fat intake are based on your total energy requirements. To consume no more than 30 percent of total calories from fat, people who require 3,000 calories a day should keep their fat intake under 100 grams per day. Twenty grams of fat in a pot pie is not unreasonable in this calorie range.
The Swanson Beef and Turkey pot pies earn three stars because of their moderate cholesterol content and because they provide at least 25 percent of the daily value for vitamin A. In addition, their sodium content is moderate at 710 and 730 milligrams. They meet my requirement of providing less than two milligrams of sodium for every calorie. They are still too high in fat for most of us.
The other versions of Banquet and Swanson pot pies earn only two and a half stars or less. Besides being high in fat, their higher sodium contents and poor nutritional values pull them into the lower ratings. Fitzgibbons' Nutrition Rating: 3 stars
Swanson Turkey Pot Pie, Swanson Beef Pot Pie Per 1 pot pie:
Calories: 380-390
Total Fat: 19-21 grams
Fat Calories: 171-189
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Saturated Fat: 8-9 grams
Cholesterol: 30 milligrams
Sodium: 710-730 milligrams
Diabetic Exchanges: 1 lean meat, 1/2 vegetable, 2-1/2 Bread/Starch, 4 Fat
Fitzgibbons' Nutrition Rating: 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 stars
Swanson Chicken Pot Pie, Banquet Pot Pies: Vegetable Cheese, Turkey, Chicken, Beef Per 1 pot pie:
Calories: 330-390
Total Fat: 15-22 grams
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Fat Calories: 135-198
Saturated Fat: 7-9 grams
Cholesterol: 15-45 milligrams
Sodium: 800-1,000 milligrams
Diabetic Exchanges: 1 lean meat, 0-1/2 vegetable, 2-1/2 Starch/Bread, 2-4 Fat -----
FITZGIBBONS' NUTRITION RATING 5 stars -- Use with confidence on a low-fat, low cholesterol and/or low sodium diet.
4 stars -- Use with some considerations such as the amount of sodium, kind of fat or the implied nutrition claims on packaging.
3 stars -- Use in moderation.
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2 stars -- Use only occasionally, if at all.
0 to 1 star -- Best left on grocer's shelf. @et