28 May 2004

Consumers warned over supermarket ready meals

Consumer have been warned to choose their supermarket ready meals carefully as new research has found that some products contain more than three times the fat and up to nine times the amount of salt of rival brands.

The Which? research has found huge variations in the amount of salt and fat found in five of the most popular supermarket ready meals, including pizzas, chicken tikka masala, quiches and steak and kidney pies.

This variation shows that manufacturers could do far more to reduce current levels of salt and fat, the consumer magazine said.

Products which were highlighted in the study include:

the Little Big Food Company Real Italian Stonebaked Microwave Margherita Pizza, which contained nine times more sodium than The Little Big Food Company Organic Stonebaked Pizza Margherita;
Marks and Spencer Lasagne Al Forno, which contained nearly three and a half times more fat than Somerfield Lasagne;
and Morrisons Favourites Steak and Kidney Pie which contained 41.8g fat and 1.1g of sodium per portion. This was nearly two thirds of a women's guideline daily amount of fat and two fifths of the daily amount for men. It's also over half the recommended daily amount of sodium for women and two fifths of the daily intake for men, the survey found.

The research, according to the Consumer Association, also reinforced the need for a simple labelling system, such as a ‘traffic light' system, to enable comparisons between products, so shoppers can easily identify which products are high in fat, sugar or salt.

Labels also need to take into account how much of the product is actually eaten, rather than just being based on 100g of the product.

The association has issued 12 key demands to government and the food industry, including: the food industry should look at its recipes to see how salt and fat in processed foods can be reduced without affecting the quality; and supermarkets should provide clear information on guideline daily amounts.

(gmcg)