Standard ready meals can be as healthy as 'low-fat' options

Healthy options are increasingly popular, but can be expensive, costing up to 200% more than the standard version.

The Consumers' Association's magazine Health Which compared calories, fat, sugar and salt levels of healthy and standard products from nine supermarkets.

Its analysis found some 'healthy' ranges did little to reduce levels of fat, sugar and salt in comparison to standard ranges.

Don't be fooled by the claims made in the marketing hype Kaye McIntosh, Editor of Health Which?

In some cases, the so-called healthy foods had higher levels of fat, salt and sugar.

Other standard products have low levels of fat already, so there was little difference between that and the 'healthy' option.

Twice the price

Health Which? highlighted Marks and Spencer 'healthy' stem ginger cookies which contained 79% less fat than their standard version, and slightly less salt.

But they contained 50g of sugar per 100g - double the amount in standard cookies.

A spokeswoman for Marks and Spencer said the product was labelled as having "less than 5%" fat to help customers make "an informed choice as part of a balanced diet," she said.

She said the cookie was made with less sugar than the standard product.

Health Which? highlighted the price difference between the standard version of Sainsbury's Spaghetti Bolognese, which costs 99p, and the healthy version, which is twice as expensive.

A Sainsbury's spokeswoman said: "Ready meal dishes such as Spaghetti Bolognese cannot be directly compared, as they are different weights."

She added that the sugar content in the Be Good to Yourself Spaghetti Bolognese range was 0.9grams not 3.4g per 100g, as Health Which? claimed.

"The Be Good To Yourself range is a lower fat range, so fat levels are strictly controlled," she said.

She said new standards had been introduced in January to ensure products in the range had a fat content of less than 3%, or at least half that of a comparable standard product.

Hype

Kaye McIntosh, editor of Health Which?, said: "Consumers need to check labels very carefully to be sure they are actually getting the health benefits and calorie savings they want.

"Don't be fooled by the claims made in the marketing hype."