Some high street salads and sandwiches contain more calories and fat than burgers and pizza, a survey from consumer group Which? has found.
The watchdog tested eight lunchtime meals including sandwiches, pastas and salads from high street shops to find that some contained surprisingly high amounts of fat, salt and sugar.
It found that Marks & Spencer’s chicken and smoked bacon salad on soft multigrain contained 694 calories and 37.1 gram of fat – more than a Pizza Express classic Margherita containing 683 calories and 22.5g of fat.
Asda’s 290g piri piri chicken pasta salad contained two thirds of the recommended daily fat intake at 46.5g and had more fat than a Burger King bacon and cheese whopper.
Caffe Nero’s brie and bacon panini contained 624 calories, more than a McDonald’s quarter pounder with cheese at 518 calories.
The bacon and brie made the panini high in fat (24.1g), saturates (12g) and salt (3.2g), while caramelised onions added to the sugar content of 15.8g.
Three of the sandwiches tested contained more than three teaspoons of sugar – Pret’s posh cheddar and pickle on artisan, Caffe Nero’s brie and bacon panini and Gregg’s Mexican chicken baguette.
The group called for all manufacturers to use traffic light nutrition labelling and restaurants to display calorie content after finding that apparently healthy options are “no better than a burger”.
Which? executive director Richard Lloyd said: “People will be surprised to find some foods that many of us perceive to be a healthier choice are no better than a burger.
“We want all manufacturers to adopt traffic light nutrition labelling and restaurants to display information about calorie content of food, so consumers can see exactly what products contain.”
