DeKALB | It’s dinner time and mom’s on a diet. She could drive to the grocery store, read labels, weigh portions, then go home and cook — if there’s time.

Prepackaged, frozen diet meals seem to be the perfect, healthy, time-saving solution. Someone on a prepackaged diet plan only has to reach into the freezer and pull out a meal, knowing the portion is the correct size.

“People don’t take the time to eat healthy,” said Donna Schoenfeld, director of Health Enhancement. “[Prepackaged diets] give [people] a basic foundation to see what a meal looks like.”

Some may be confused when they read nutrition labels on packages, but common terms like butylated hydroxyanisole, sodium benzoate and calcium propionate simply indicate preservatives.

“They will block microbial growth,” said Martha O’Gorman, Health Services nutrition counselor.

Since freezing blocks microbial growth, this is not an important element of frozen foods, however.

Other terms like carageenan, methyl cellulose and guar gum indicate additives used to control the texture of foods.

“Freezing and reheating of foods changes the texture,” O’Gorman said. “Many of these additives are natural products that come from plant fibers or tree bark.”

O’Gorman also advised not to be too concerned about the effects additives will have on your body.

“The additives would have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration and would be found not to cause adverse health effects when consumed in normal amounts,” O’Gorman said.

When considering packaged foods, Schoenfeld said the “freshman 15” is neither fact nor fiction.

“Some students lose weight, some gain it,” Schoenfeld said.

According to research published in the American Journal of Public Health, the average weight gain for new college students is between six and 12 pounds.