Unwrapped: Which? puts sandwiches on test
Which? uncovers varying salt and fat levels in your favourite sandwich and calls for front of pack labelling to include traffic lights.
CASH welcomes this latest research from Which? and supports their call for consistent front of pack labelling, which includes 'traffic lights', to be introduced by all retailers and manufacturers.
The research found that you could be eating double the amount of salt and three times as much fat as the same sandwich bought elsewhere. For instance, at 3.36g, a BLT sandwich from Lidl contains more than half the daily salt recommendation of 6g per day and DOUBLE the salt compared to a BLT from Boots, which contains just 1.5g. Worryingly the Lidl sandwich did not provide traffic light labelling, unlike the Boots product, making it very difficult to know just how much salt you are eating.
It is great to see that some companies have met the 2012 targets for sandwiches, however worrying to note that some sandwiches fail to meet even the 2010 targets. It is absolutely vital for all companies to gradually lower the level of salt contained in their products in line with 2012 targets if we are to see the maximum number of lives.
Katharine Jenner, CASH Campaign Director, comments
"We all need to eat less salt, but how can we make a healthy choice whilst food labelling is still so unclear? This Which? survey should make us think twice about buying sandwiches that aren't prepared to show their true (traffic light!) colours."
This research comes a couple of days after the Department of Health launched a new 12 week consultation on labelling.
Sandwich Report Press Release 17 May 2012 [PDF 111KB] Sandwiches briefing May 2012 FINAL report [PDF 192KB]
Egg Sandwich
| Brand | Salt/100g | Salt/portion |
| Boots |
0.90 |
1.80 |
| Greggs |
1.02 |
1.70 |
| Aldi |
0.91 |
1.61 |
| Tesco |
1.00 |
1.60 |
| M&S |
0.83 |
1.48 |
| Costa |
0.80 |
1.40 |
| Morrisons |
0.80 |
1.30 |
| Asda |
0.60 |
1.20 |
| Waitrose |
0.70 |
1.19 |
| Sainsbury's |
0.75 |
1.15 |
| Pret A Manger |
0.60 |
1.12 |
| The Co-operative |
0.80 |
1.10 |
| Caffe Nero |
0.60 |
1.00 |
| Starbucks |
0.50 |
1.00 |
Chicken Salad Sandwich
| Brand | Salt/100g | Salt/portion |
| Marks & Spencer |
0.75 |
1.95 |
| Greggs |
0.77 |
1.90 |
| Morrisons |
0.80 |
1.80 |
| Starbucks |
0.87 |
1.75 |
| Asda |
0.70 |
1.50 |
| Subway |
0.60 |
1.40 |
| Costa |
0.70 |
1.38 |
| Waitrose |
0.68 |
1.35 |
| The Co-operative |
0.68 |
1.33 |
| Boots |
0.70 |
1.30 |
| Tesco |
0.50 |
1.20 |
| Lidl |
0.51 |
1.15 |
| Sainsbury's |
0.57 |
1.15 |
| Caffe Nero |
0.50 |
1.00 |
BLT Sandwich
| Brand | Salt/100g | Salt/portion |
| Lidl |
1.52 |
3.36 |
| Pret A Manager |
1.19 |
2.95 |
| Tesco |
1.40 |
2.90 |
| Caffe Nero |
1.60 |
2.80 |
| Costa |
1.60 |
2.70 |
| Greggs |
1.27 |
2.70 |
| Marks & Spencer |
1.23 |
2.53 |
| Waitrose |
1.30 |
2.33 |
| Morrisons |
1.10 |
2.30 |
| Asda |
1.20 |
2.20 |
| Aldi |
1.17 |
2.16 |
| Starbucks |
1.12 |
2.00 |
| Sainsbury's |
1.03 |
1.99 |
| The Co-operative |
1.00 |
1.90 |
| Boots |
0.80 |
1.50 |
