IELTS GT Task 2: ready-made food.

More and more people are buying ready to eat foods instead of cooking themselves. Does this development has more advantages than disadvantages?

A diet plays a key role in the health and wellbeing of people. Nowadays, many people opt to processed food rather than cooking themselves. The benefits of this trend that outweigh the disadvantages are convenience and time-saving.

Admittedly, the only drawback of processed food is that it is unhealthy. It is usually comprised of saturated fat, sugar and artificial colors that are needed to increase their shelf-life. The frequent consumption of this can cause serious illnesses, such as diabetes, obesity and lung-cancer. It is reported that more than one million citizens of the UAE, for instance, contracted various diseases due to excessive consumption of pre-prepared pizzas and burgers. However, people consume it and carry out regular exercises in order to avoid its adverse impact.

On the positive side, the main advantage of consuming pre-prepared food is convenience. That is to say that it can be made without any hassle or efforts. People tend to be busy due to hectic work schedules, and thus they hardly prefer to cook food. According to a recent survey, most people of the US, for example, choose ready-to-cook food because of flexibility it offers.

Since all the ingredients are already added, another key benefit of ready-to-cook food is that it saves time. In other words, one just need to mildly heat it in order to consume, instead of preparing it which takes considerable time. Take Britain as an example. Many people, including their spouses, do jobs due to which they do not find enough time for cooking at home. Thus, they bring pre-prepared food for their children.

In conclusion, although processed food is unhealthy, its primary advantages, flexibility and time-saving, outweigh the drawback.