Sandwiches found to have same salt as nine bags of crisps

Published on Wednesday 22 April 2009 21:58

CONSUMERS are unwittingly eating large amounts of salt, fat and sugar because of a lack of nutritional information about sandwiches, a Which? magazine report has found.

Which? examined various sandwiches including Subway's six-inch meatball marinara, which contained 4.4g of salt – nearly the same amount as nine standard packets of Walkers ready salted crisps.

It is campaigning for nutritional information to be given on all sandwiches.

Subway said it began providing nutritional details in shops at the end of last year, and is working to improve the "health value" of its products.

Which? also compared 14 popular chicken salad sandwiches. The two with the highest calories and fat were Sainsbury's Taste the Difference butter roasted chicken salad, where a breakdown was given, and Pret a Manger's herb chicken and rocket.

Pret only supplies nutritional information on its website or if customers ask in the shop, but the chain has signed up to a Food Standards Agency (FSA) scheme to provide calorie information, as has Subway. Bakery chain Greggs has not committed to this, the magazine said.

Which? editor Martyn Hocking said: "A sandwich might seem like a pretty healthy option, but there can be shocking amounts of salt, sugar and fat in some of them and you'd have no idea if they're not labelled. We're pleased to see some coffee shops and sandwich chains have signed up to the FSA's pilot scheme to provide calorie information when eating out, but we think all food outlets should provide this information."

According to the British Sandwich Association, about 5.5 billion is spent on commercially made sandwiches each year.