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It's all in
the name...
or
not, as a new Which? report* reveals huge variations in the fat and
salt content of ready meals.
Some of
Britain's most popular ready meals contain over four times as much
salt, almost five times more fat and nearly six times more saturates,
than others**.
Pizza fans
could be surprised during their next shop:
>
Sainsbury's Basics Fresh Pizza had twice the salt per 100g of its
Basics Frozen Pizza.
>
Morrisons' The Best Margherita Pizza had almost twice as much fat as
its Thin and Crispy Cheese and Tomato Pizza per 100g.
> Most
surprisingly, Sainsbury's Be Good to Yourself Roasted Tomato and
Mozzarella Pizza had a similar amount of fat per 100g as its standard
Deep Pan 4 Cheese Pizza.
Lasagne lovers
will be just as bemused:
>
Morrisons' standard Beef Lasagne had more fat per 100g than its
premium version.
> Per
portion, Somerfield's Simply Value Beef Lasagne had less fat than its
Healthy Choice Beef Lasagne.
>
Waitrose's Perfectly Balanced Lasagne was higher in salt per portion
than its standard version.
Devotees of
chicken tikka masala will also struggle:
>
Sainsbury's Chicken Tikka Masala had almost twice the fat of Asda's
Indian Takeaway Hot Chicken Tikka Masala per 100g but the Asda meal
had around four times more salt than Morrisons' Chicken Tikka Masala
per 100g.
> Iceland's
Indian Takeaway Chicken Tikka Masala had the lowest amount of
saturates but Sainsbury's Chicken Tikka Masala had over three times
this amount per 100g.
Sue Davies,
chief policy adviser, Which?, says: "Going to the supermarket
for a ready meal has become a lucky dip as some manufacturers are
still insisting on cramming their meals with salt and fat, without
making it obvious for shoppers what they're really eating.
"We
have shown that it is possible to produce healthier ready meals, so
why aren't manufacturers doing this throughout their ranges?
"All
manufacturers and retailers need to add traffic lights to their food
labels to show levels of fat, sugar and salt - helping to make the
healthy choice, the easy choice."
Seven in every
ten people buy ready meals and nearly a third of consumers do so
every week. This means over 14 million ready meals are eaten each
week in Britain, more than any other country***.
The Best
and Worst in each group for lasagnes, chicken tikka masalas and
cheese and tomato pizzas:
The Best
per 100g
Lowest in fat
- Sainsbury's Be Good to Yourself Lasagne
Somerfield
Simply Value Beef Lasagne
Asda Indian
and Asda Indian Takeaway Hot Chicken Tikka Masalas
Weight
Watchers Pizza Oval Cheese and Cherry Tomato pizza
Lowest in Saturates
- Somerfield Simply Value Beef Lasagne
Iceland Indian
Takeaway Chicken Tikka Masala
Dietary
Specials Mozzarella and Tomato pizza
Lowest in Salt
- Tesco Finest Beef Lasagne
Tesco Healthy
Living Beef Lasagne
Sainsbury's Be
Good to Yourself Lasagne
Sainsbury's
Taste the Difference Aberdeen Angus Lasagne
Morrisons
Chicken Tikka Masala
Sainsbury's
Kids Cheese and Tomato pizza
The Worst
per 100g
Highest in fat
- Marks
& Spencer Beef Lasagne
Sainsbury's
Chicken Tikka Masala
Dr Oetker
Ristorante Mozzarella pizza
Highest in Saturates
- Marks & Spencer Beef Lasagne
Morrisons Beef Lasagne
Sainsbury's
Chicken Tikka Masala
Tesco Deep
Crust Cheese Feast pizza
Highest in
Salt - Chicago Town Deep Filled Classic Beef Lasagne
Co-op Italian
Beef Lasagne
Asda Indian
Takeaway Hot Chicken Tikka Masala
Chicago Town
Five Cheese Takeaway Original pizza
Dietary
Specials Mozzarella and Tomato pizza
Goodfellas
Delicia Margherita pizza
Iceland Tomato
and Mozzarella Ciabatta pizza
Tesco Cheese pizza
*Which? bought
all of the cheese and tomato pizzas, beef lasagnes and chicken tikka
masalas available in the main supermarkets in March 2007 - fresh and
frozen, branded and own brand, premium and healthy ranges. For each
type of meal they compared the fat, saturated fat and salt content
per 100g and per portion, based on the nutrition information provided
on the packet and applied the Food Standards Agency traffic light
labelling scheme.
**Compared
weight for weight on a per 100g basis.
***31% of
adults eat ready meals at least once a week (Keynote Market Report,
Ready Meals, January 2007). 31% of the adult GB population (15+) is
14,889,610 therefore at least 14,889,610 ready meals are consumed
each week. 31% = Population Trends, Issue 126, Winter 2006 - Office
of National Statistics.
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