How to read a ready meal pack, from the name to the use-by date
Six zones on a ready meal pack tell you what is inside, how much, until when it is safe and how to heat it. Here is how to read each one under Thai labelling rules.
Plate Mate Blog
What is in a ready meal, how to read its label, how long chilled food stays good and how to heat it well. Plus how food machines work in Bangkok and Pattaya condos.
Featured guide
Start here
Long reads that cover each topic end to end.
How to build a balanced lunch around a ready meal
A ready meal fills part of the plate. Two simple plate models show which part, and what to buy downstairs to finish it.
The journey of a chilled ready meal: eight steps from kitchen to plate
Before you eat it, a chilled meal is cooked, cooled, packed, driven, stored, bought and reheated. What keeps it safe at each step, and what Plate Mate confirms about its own meals.
How a smart food vending machine works, from fridge to first bite
A chilled cabinet, a touch screen, a payment panel, a pick-up door and, in our machines, a built-in microwave, all checked remotely. What each part does and what it means for you as a buyer.
How a condo can evaluate a food vending operator: a committee checklist
A ready-meal machine in the lobby is a food business on common property. The questions a juristic person and committee should put to any operator, what a good answer looks like and the order in which to decide.
Everyday eating in a Thai condo: a weekly rhythm that holds up
A small kitchen and a busy week push you towards the same three meals or a 10 pm delivery order. How to split the week between street food, cooking, delivery and ready meals, store them safely and drink enough in the heat.
Real Food
Eight principles behind our meals, and which of them are proven facts.
Latest articles
Added sugar vs natural sugar: what a label shows and what it hides
A carton of juice can honestly say "no added sugar" and still hold the sugar health advice tells you to cut. Free, added and total sugars explained, with the WHO and Thai limits.
Buckwheat and chicken fricassee: the dish explained
Buckwheat is a seed rather than a true cereal, and Eastern Europe eats it the way Thailand eats rice. What it is, what fricassee means, and what to know about gluten and allergies.
Can you buy from a condo food machine 24/7?
A vending machine itself does not close. The lobby door, the access card and the building’s rules decide whether you can buy at 3 a.m. How to check a machine before you go.
Check the pack before you eat: date, seal, shape, cold
Four checks take a few seconds at the pick-up door. Then heat the meal through and eat it soon. If something is wrong, keep the pack and tell us.
Chilled food in Thai heat: where the cold chain breaks
In Thai heat, the riskiest stretch of a chilled meal's journey is the trip from the shop to your fridge. The danger zone, the 2-hour/4-hour rule and the habits that keep food cold.
Chilled vs frozen meals: what is the difference, and which to buy
A chilled meal is meant to be eaten soon, by the date on the pack; a frozen one keeps for months. What the temperatures mean, how long each keeps and the one habit each needs at home.
Choosing cooking oils: fat types, heat and reuse
Smoke-point charts make choosing an oil look like a one-number decision. It isn't: the mix of fats, the heat and time, reuse and the amount on the plate all count, and no oil is perfect or forbidden.
FIFO and FEFO: which chilled pack to eat first
Most people eat the oldest pack in the fridge first. That is FIFO, and it works until a newer pack carries an earlier date. Why FEFO is the safer habit for chilled food, and how to set it up in a minute.
Food allergens and cross-contact: what "may contain" means and what to do
An allergen can be in a meal as an ingredient, or arrive by accident from shared kitchens and equipment. That second route, cross-contact, is what "may contain" warnings are about.
How recipe nutrition is calculated, and why it is never exact
The calories on a pack come from a lab test or from the recipe. Both are accepted methods, and both describe an average, not the exact pack in your hand.
How to compare protein in ready meals: per pack, per 100 g or per 100 kcal
The meal with more protein per pack is not always the one with more protein per gram or per calorie. Which number to trust depends on what you need from the meal.
How to read the reheating instructions on a meal pack, line by line
Five short lines on a meal pack, each with a job: the wattage, the film, the stir, the rest and the final check. What they mean and how to adjust the time for your own microwave.