Revealed: The meal deals with the MOST calories - and some very surprising ... trends now
Don’t have the time, or inclination, to make your own packed lunch to take to work every day? A meal deal – which typically gets you a sandwich, a snack and a drink for £3.50 to £5 – can be a tempting alternative.
In fact, a third of us now have meal deals every week, according to research by The Grocer.
Earlier this week meal deals hit the headlines, with Sainsbury’s shoppers in uproar because some yoghurt products had been put in the ‘main course’ category, rather than in the ‘snack’ bit.
The supermarket argues that granola-topped yoghurts are a popular breakfast ‘main’, and that ordinary yoghurts are preferred as a lunchtime snack.
But a bigger worry is that, unless you choose wisely, your lunch could be high in calories and overloaded with fat, sugar or salt – unwittingly sending you down the path towards weight gain and ill-health if you have meal deals regularly.
‘An average woman won’t need more than 600 calories at lunchtime,’ says dietitian Dr Sarah Schenker.
‘Exceeding this by 100 calories every day for a month could lead to nearly a pound of weight gain.’
Yet research by the University of Birmingham last year found 23 per cent of meal deals at supermarkets and High Street stores exceeded the recommended Government guidelines of 600 lunchtime calories.
And as well as potentially sabotaging your waistline, many of the options sit firmly in the ultra-processed food (UPF) camp, meaning they are highly processed, packed with artificial additives, salt, sugar and saturated fat, and increasingly linked to obesity and poor health.
‘The High Street meal deal has become an unhealthy minefield and you can very easily get tripped up unless you take the time to analyse your food choices and scrutinise the labels,’ says Sarah Schenker.
‘Looking at the options available, it’s not easy to create a healthy lunch from most meal deals.’
She admits that she herself will sometimes reach for a meal deal, but she opts for a high-protein salad, fruit and a bottle of water.
Sarah Schenker recommends looking for the most wholesome food you can find. ‘Pick sandwiches on wholegrain bread or a salad with the dressing on the side so you can control how much you use, and choose a piece of fruit as your snack’, she says. You should also go for food with the least amount of processing (‘avoid anything with a long list of chemical ingredients’) and water or plain coffee or tea to drink, rather than squash, juice or a fizzy drink.
‘Instead of worrying about minimising calories, focus on maximising protein and fibre – 20g of protein and plenty of fibre in the form of vegetables, pulses and nuts should provide the nutrients you need and help keep you feeling fuller for longer,’ she says.
To find out which meal deals are a good option, we asked Sarah Schenker for her verdict – and health rating – on a selection of High Street offers.
Sainsbury’s, £3.50Brie, bacon and chilli chutney sandwich PLUS all butter flapjack PLUS Coca Cola
Total: Calories, 1,014; saturated fat, 17.4g; protein, 28.3g; sugar, 88.5g; salt, 2.23g
Expert verdict: There are all the calories you need for lunch (580) in this meaty sandwich – so you really don’t need the extra 224 calories in the flapjack or the 210 in the cola. And despite being a good source of protein (25g) and fibre (5g), the sandwich also supplies an unhealthy 25g of fat and 2g of salt, which is linked to high blood pressure.
In fact, this meal deal combination adds up to half the daily recommended calorie limit for a woman and 17 teaspoons of sugar. If you make this choice every day, you’ll be on a fast track to obesity and ill-health.
Buying all three items as a meal deal might save you £2.35 but you’d be far better to pick fruit as your snack and water to drink, or to buy the sandwich alone for £3 – saving yourself 50p – and wash it down with a glass of tap water. 2/10
Tesco, £3.90Salmon and tuna sushi PLUS Kit Kat Chunky Duo PLUS Lucozade Sport still orange drink
Total: Calories, 859; saturated fat, 9.7g; protein, 13.54g; sugar, 74.4g; salt, 3.26g
Expert verdict: Sushi is a popular lunchtime choice and with this option you get some healthy omega-3 fats from the fresh salmon and tuna – but this meal is low in protein and fibre so is unlikely to be very satisfying. Discard the little bottle of soya sauce to reduce your salt intake. More worrying is the huge sugar surge you’d get from the drink and chocolate – you’d be better picking the egg protein pot (two hard boiled eggs) and a zero sugar drink to provide a more balanced meal. 4/10
Co-op premium meal deal, £5.50Yo! Salmon and avocado
