(P10-06-26) Nutrient Density of Medically Tailored Meals by Vendor, Meal, and Treatment Type

Objectives: To evaluate nutrient density of medically tailored meals (MTMs) and whether this varies across vendor type, meal type, and treatment categories.

Methods: Meals (n=36) were randomly selected from a convenience sample of 3 commercial and 3 community-based MTM vendors. For each vendor, one beef, poultry, and vegetarian meal was selected for both cardiovascular disease (CVD) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) treatment categories. Nutrition information was obtained from product labels for commercial MTMs and from vendor-provided recipe analysis for community-based MTM vendors. Nutrient density was calculated per 100 kcal for all available nutrients. Independent t-tests and ANOVA with post hoc comparisons were used to assess differences in total nutrients and nutrient density by vendor type, meal type, and treatment category.

Results: Meals sampled from the community-based MTM vendors were larger compared to commercial MTM vendors (383.8 ± 81.8 g vs 332.8 ± 47.3 g; p=0.01). Meals from community-based MTM vendors were higher in potassium (894.1 ± 178.2 mg vs 615.9 ± 230.5 mg; p= < 0.001). When expressed per 100 kcal, potassium density was also higher in the community-based meals (5.9 ± 1.6 mg/100kcal vs. 4.5 ± 2.4 mg/100kcal; p=0.04) while saturated fat, protein, fiber, sodium, sugar, calcium, and iron density were not significantly different between vendor types (p>0.05). Across all MTMs, fiber and protein density differed by meal type (ANOVA F(2,33) = 4.18, p=0.02 and F(2,33) = 12.17, p < 0.001 respectively). Vegetarian meals had higher fiber density than beef (p=0.049) and poultry (p=0.04) meals while poultry meals had higher protein density compared to beef (p=0.01) and vegetarian (p < 0.001) meals. There were no differences in nutrient density by meal treatment type.

Conclusions: In this sample of MTMs, nutrient density varied by vendor and meal type. Meals from community-based vendors were larger and had higher potassium content and density compared to commercial vendors. Vegetarian meals had higher fiber density while poultry meals had higher protein density compared to other meal types. These findings suggest potential variability in MTM nutrient density that warrants further investigation to help ensure consistency across MTM programs.

Funding Sources: This study was funded by The Atria Health Collective.