The healthy fast food alternative?
unhealthy eating habits and contributing to the growing obesity
problem, but a company in Sweden has recently created a new fast
food concept which shows that convenience need not come at the
expense of an expanding waistline.
The company is called Life Box and its eponymous fast food concept claims to be a complete healthy meal: a starter, a drink, a piece of fruit and a main course. According to a report from øresund Food Excellence, the meals are created by culinary professionals and nutritional experts, with medical input to ensure that the purported health qualities are supported by scientific evidence.
The product is currently being supplied on a test basis to selected companies in the Malmö area of southern Sweden, and is being targeted at time-poor office workers seeking a more nutritional lunch than a burger or pizza.
The report claims that 12 weeks into the test period, the effects of the healthy lunches can already be seen, with an improvement in cholesterol levels among many of those taking part, as well as widespread weight loss.
"The test shows that the idea of healthy fast food eating works," Susanne Thorén, founder of Life Box, is cited as saying. "We plan for individually adapted Life Box meal solutions in 2006, which make it possible for a consumer to get a meal that is adapted to his or her nutritional personal needs."
The potential market for the Life Box concept is huge, according to Erika Braun, information manager at Life Box. Some companies have already taken steps to improve the working environment for their employees, and providing them with a healthy, balanced meals - and even one tailored to their specific health requirements - is a logical step to take. "Our goal is initially to distribute Life Box in the Malmö and Copenhagen regions, and then we foresee a launch of the concept in Gothenburg, Stockholm, the Nordic market and finally Europe. We have patents for our concept covering Europe," Braun said.
