M&S, Asda, Tesco slash sat fats in chilled food

In a report outlining retailers’ efforts to reduce fat, salt and sugar in own-label ranges, the BRC revealed that significant progress had been made in sandwiches, ready meals, chilled pizza and other chilled prepared foods – as well as high-profile reductions in crisps and snacks.

Some of the biggest reductions had been achieved in chilled pizza, with Asda reducing sat fats by an average of 32% in its range by using different cheeses, oils and meat types/levels; and Waitrose slashing sat fat levels by 34% using a similar approach.

Large reductions have also been achieved in sandwiches through removing spreads where they were not deemed essential or replacing them with lower-saturated fat versions (Sainsbury and Tesco).

Tesco and M&S have also made big reductions in sat fats by switching to a mayonnaise with higher levels of mono-unsaturated fat.

Portion sizes​

Where reformulation was particularly challenging for technical reasons, retailers have reduced portion sizes or altered the ratios of components within a product to improve its nutritional profile.

Asda, for example, has reduced the amount of cheese used in the ‘rope’ on stuffed crust pizzas, while the Co-operative Group has changed the proportion of sponge to topping in its frozen gateaux.

High oleic oils​

In other products, supermarkets have made reductions by baking rather than frying crisps and spring rolls (Sainsbury), or using oils with higher levels of monounsaturated fats, such as high-oleic sunflower oil for frying crisps and rapeseed oil for cooking fish cakes (Waitrose).

For a full copy of the report, Retailers’ Commitment to Health: Reformulation Achievements​, click here ​