Major manufacturers and retailers have defended their sausages, emphasising the variety of different sausages on offer and clear ingredients labelling, following research by Consensus Action on Salt and Health (CASH).
CASH claims to have found “excessively high amounts of salt” in sausages offered by Richmond, Heck, Iceland, Asda and Sainsbury’s. However the companies have spoken out following media coverage of the research.
Richmond, whose full range of sausages allegedly topped all other manufacturers for salt, stated that the company focuses on taste and recommends its products are consumed in moderation.
A spokesperson said: “We pride ourselves in making products that do not compromise on the great taste that our customers love, and continue to recommend that these products are consumed in moderation as part of a healthy and balanced diet.”
Meanwhile Heck’s Chicken Italia Chipolatas were listed fourth in a table of examples of sausages high in salt per 100g as per label.
Co-founder Debbie Kebble said: “Our focus has been on lowering fat content without compromising taste but we have now turned our attention to salt and you will see this reducing over time to meet government guidelines, as we replace our packaging.
“We have been exploring other ways to take out the salt, such as using miso, but have decided against using it in our sausages as it is an allergen.”
CASH, which is based at Queen Mary University of London, also examined supermarket own brand sausages and found varying levels of salt content. It claims that the saltiest variety sold by Asda (Extra Special 6 Bacon & Maple Syrup Pork Sausages) includes 1.1g per sausage while another Asda own brand variety (Extra Special 6 Lincolnshire Pork Sausages) only contains 0.45g salt per sausage.
It also stated that Sainsbury's Taste The Difference Toulouse Inspired British Pork Sausages contain 12.2g of saturated fat per portion (two sausages).
A Sainsbury’s spokesperson said: “We sell a variety of sausages including our Taste the Difference Wild Scottish Venison and Red Wine sausages, which contain 0.83g of salt per 100g and our Be Good to Yourself British Cumberland Pork Sausages, which contain just 1.1g of fat per 100g.
“We aim to offer our customers choice and we’ll always clearly label our products with nutritional values and Reference Intakes so they have the guidance they need to make informed decisions on their diets.”
Asda added: “Our range of sausages is compliant with the Government’s salt guidelines, but our customers probably won’t be surprised to discover that our bacon and maple syrup sausages have a slightly higher salt content than average.
“However, we’re pleased that the report also shows that we also offer two of the least salty sausages in this study – meaning whatever their tastes, our customers can find a banger to suit at Asda.”
Iceland’s 8 Jumbo Pork Sausages were also reportedly found to contain 1.6g/100g of salt, along with 6.8g of saturates per 100g.
Iceland stated: "Iceland 8 Jumbo Pork Sausages are clearly marketed via the product packaging as a single serving sausage in a bun. It is the length of two standard Iceland sausages.
“It is disappointing to compare this jumbo size of pork sausage against other considerably smaller products in the market place. Iceland cooked nutrition information is declared on product packaging, rather than raw, to provide more meaningful information for our customers.”
Some of the sausages with the lowest salt content included in the study were said to be The Co-operative Irresistible 6 Sweet Chilli Sausages which contained just 0.75g/100g.
This story was originally published on a previous version of the Meat Management website and so there may be some missing images and formatting issues.
