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Press Release

Traffic-light labels ideal for barbeque favourites

5 July 2007

Different labelling makes it hard to compare fat, saturates and salt in products like sausages and burgers – but traffic-light labelling can help people make an informed choice at a glance, says Which?

Which? checked the meat content, ingredients and nutritional value of a range of sausages and burgers from the main supermarkets and brands, and applied the traffic-light labelling scheme recommended by the Food Standards Agency (FSA)*. It found that:

> Levels of fat per 100g were 12 times higher in Morrisons frozen thick pork sausages than in Morrisons Eat Smart fresh pork sausages.

> Levels of saturates per 100g were 16 times higher in Richmond Irish recipe thick fresh sausages than in Morrisons Eat Smart fresh pork sausages.

> Not all of the ‘healthy-range’ products Which? analysed avoided red lights – Morrison's Eat Smart frozen pork sausages get a red light for saturated fat.

> Nutritional content varied between fresh and frozen versions of the same product - Tesco’s frozen Healthy Living thick pork sausages had four times the fat of the fresh equivalent per 100g.

> The lowest meat content was Tesco Value frozen sausages at just 30 per cent. They also contained chicken skin and fat, pork fat, beef fat and connective tissue**.

> Most burgers contained more than the legal minimum meat content, but some had fillers such as rusk, added water, sugar or extra beef fat.


Neil Fowler, Editor, Which?, says:

“Sausages and burgers are exactly the kind of products that the FSA’s traffic-light labelling was designed for, as they’re really difficult for shoppers to judge.

“Some retailers and manufacturers have adopted traffic-lights, so you can check the packaging and compare products at a glance. If your supermarket hasn’t, ask them why not – and in the meantime download the Which? shopping card free at www.which.co.uk/shoppingcard to help you spot the healthier versions on the shelves.”



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