Reality BITES

Foam, white glue and flaming blowtorches – the tricks of the trade used to make ready meal photos look good enough to eat

THEY’RE the dinnertime staple of the nation.

The TV schedules may be filled with cookery shows and bestseller lists filled with recipe books – but when it comes to food, convenience rules.

Ready meal sales in major supermarkets alone now top £2 BILLION a year.

Europe is the global leader for new ready meal products, Britain is number one for launches and new government research reveals families are increasingly turning to ready meals and takeaways rather than home cooking.

Almost a third, 32%, eat ready meals at least three times a week, and 36% have takeaways at least once a week.

With a huge range of products on the shelves, standing out from the crowd with enticing looking dishes is vital.

But many consumers find the cooked meal they take out of the oven or microwave bears little resemblance to the glossy shot on the packet.

Industry insiders say that some companies can use a number of tricks of the trade to help make food look its very best.

It’s said these can include foam to separate and support individual lasagne layers to make it stand well and blowtorches to give the top a browning.

It’s not the only use for blowtorches.

One photographer who works with food products revealed they are also used for browning the edges of raw hamburger patties and hot dogs.

White glue is used instead of milk for cereal photos and whole turkeys are sprayed with a browning sauce, water and food colouring before being blow- torched and stuffed with paper towels to plump them up further.

Jon Wilkin, Senior Food Technologist and Lecturer at Abertay University, says an incredible amount of effort goes into packaging.

“The picture you see often isn’t the same dish that comes off a production line,” revealed Jon.

“Food stylists and photographers are given the same ingredients by the manufacturer. They have strict criteria so must use the same proportions but they will set out to produce a dish to make it look attractive.

“They are very clever people and will spend up to two days to make something as perfect as possible for the photographer.

“We eat with our eyes and manufacturers know they have seconds as we glance along a shelf to make their product the one we pick up.”

The same applies to fast food images.

“To make that burger look as fantastic as they can, McDonald’s will use the same ingredients but put it all up front,” added Jon Wilkin.

“That way it doesn’t look like the floppy burger that you might expect.”

While there’s no suggestion that the meals we tested have been enhanced for photographs, we picked a selection of bestselling ready meals and takeaways – to see how reality bites.