Chilled vs frozen meals: what is the difference, and which to buy

The same dish can be sold chilled or frozen, and both can be safe and good to eat. What differs is how much time you have and what you do before the meal reaches the plate.

One line on the thermometer

Food safety regulators treat 5 °C to 60 °C as the temperature danger zone, where food poisoning bacteria can grow. Cold food is kept at 5 °C or colder, hot food at 60 °C or hotter (FSANZ).

A chilled meal sits just under that line. Cold slows bacteria down without stopping them, hence the short life and the use-by date. A frozen meal is held far below zero: Victoria's health department advises a freezer colder than −15 °C, and warns that food poisoning bacteria can grow while food thaws (Better Health Channel).

Each needs its own habit at home

Put a chilled meal in the fridge as soon as you get in: in Thai heat a pack warms fast. Australian guidance says perishable food that has spent 2 to 4 hours in the danger zone should be eaten straight away, and after 4 hours thrown out (Food Safety Information Council). Eat it by the date on the pack.

Keep a frozen meal in the freezer until you need it, thaw it in the fridge or heat it from frozen if the pack says so, and as a rule don't refreeze food that has thawed.

Chilled in our machines, frozen in our sets

Meals in our machines are chilled, not frozen. Every meal has a use-by date on the pack, and we monitor the temperature inside our machines remotely. The built-in microwave heats a meal after purchase, and packs carry reheating instructions. How a meal gets there: the journey of a chilled ready meal.

Our frozen sets are a separate product that keeps up to 6 months at −18 °C, with the date on the pack. For a quick lunch or dinner close to home, choose the machine; to stock the freezer for the week, the sets.