One Small Step: Check your lunchtime labels

Posted 14 July 2009

Salad - the healthy choice?!

According to a leading consumer watchdog, some supermarket salads have more fat, salt and calories than a Big Mac!

In a study released last month, 'Which?' looked at 20 pre-prepared salads and found that the average contained 412 calories and 20.3 grams of fat, only slightly healthier than a Big Mac, which contains 490 calories and 24 grams of fat.

An adult woman is recommended to eat less than 70 grams of fat a day.

The main culprits were the salad dressings, with Morrisons 300g Smedleys Atlantic Prawn Marie Rose Salad containing a whopping 855 calories and 66.3g fat - more than a Big Mac and medium fries - and Asda's 297g Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad contained 43g of fat, almost as much as six Cadbury's Creme eggs!

A 380g Marks & Spencer Pasta with Tomato & Basil Chicken salad clocked up 760 calories and 46g fat.

The lesson here? Don't assume that the word 'salad' makes a dish healthy. Add mayo, a creamy dressing, cheese and bacon bits to a plate of veggies and the calorie count can rocket...

Which? is calling for food companies to adopt one type of label so shoppers can clearly identify levels of fat, sugar and salt.

In the meantime get label savvy and use the chart below to help you decipher your lunchtime label -don't forget to check the serving size as well as amounts per 100g - some large packs of salad contain up to 400g.