IELTS Essay: Convenience food. I will appreciate your feedback.

More and more people are opting for readymade food instead of freshly cooked food. Does this practice have more advantages than disadvantages?

Today many people opt to convenience food rather than cooking at home. Its drawbacks, negative impact on health and expensive, are far greater than the benefits.

Time saving and taste are the two primary advantages of readymade food. Many prefer it because they want to save their time in today's busy life. They believe that it is much better to buy pre-prepared food instead of cooking fresh food which takes considerable time. Both spouses, for example, work in the USA and often arrive late at home. Thus, they bring pizzas and burgers for their children. Another benefit of pre-prepared food is that it is usually scrumptious. The reason is artificial flavors and colors are included in it. Most children, for instance, consume noodles due to the variety of tastes. However, this food seriously affects the health in the long-term, which many people are not cognizant of.

There are two main drawbacks of convenience food. First, it is harmful for the health as it is comprised of saturated fat and salt. This results in many illnesses, such as high blood pressure and cholesterol. Take Melbourne as an example. It is reported that its many citizens are suffering from obesity and diabetes because of excessive consumption of readymade food. Since it is the complex process to increase the shelf life of processed food, its another disadvantage is that it is costly. The companies which prepare it and deliver to customers earn substantial profit margins. It is exemplified by the fact that Go Meat, the largest meat exporter of India, earn more than fifty percent margins on its products, according to a survey.

In conclusion, the benefits of readymade food, which are its favorable taste and time saving, are far overshadowed by the drawbacks.