Home-delivery meal kits are greener than supermarket meals, a scientific study has claimed, as reduced food waste offsets extra packaging.

Meal kits, which deliver a box of pre-portioned ingredients for a meal to feed a family, have boomed in popularity in recent years with companies like "Simply Fresh" and "Gousto" becoming household names.

However the kits have gained a bad environmental reputation because of the amount of packaging waste they produce.

But the first of its kind study by the University of Michigan found that meal kits have a much lower carbon footprint than if all the ingredients are bought separately at the supermarket.

Even though meal kits do use more packaging, average greenhouse gas emissions were one-third lower for meal kit dinners than shop-bought ones, it found.

Scientists considered every step in the process of making the meal, from farm to landfill, and found that pre-proportioned ingredients and a streamlined supply chain lowers the food loss and waste for meal kits.