More than half of the ready meals sold in UK supermarkets contain excessive salt levels, new research has found.
Action on Salt analysed 1,511 ready meals sold across 11 retailers and found that 56% were high in salt, 42% were high in saturated fat, and 71% were low in fibre.
One in five (20%) ready meals were high in salt, fat, and saturated fat simultaneously, triggering three red warning labels on front-of-pack nutrition labelling, the survey found. Meanwhile, only 7% of ready meals analysed were classified as low in salt.
Some of the “most worrying results” came from the discounters’ own-label lines. For instance, Action on Salt found that 86% of Iceland’s own ready meals were high in salt. Its Luxury Butter Chicken & Bombay Potatoes 400g contained 5.3g of the recommended maximum 6g daily salt limit.
Meanwhile, 70% of own-label ready meals from Aldi and 64% from Lidl were found to be high in salt.
Of the private-label meals surveyed from both M&S and Sainsbury’s, meanwhile, 54% were high in salt. While Morrisons performed better than its rivals, results were “still concerning”, said Action on Salt; 40% of its meals were high in salt, the study found.
Branded culprits
The picture wasn’t any better for branded lines, however; every single ready meal from Wasabi, Jamie Oliver, and Kitchen Joy carried a red front-of-pack label for salt.
Out of Charlie Bigham’s’ portfolio, meanwhile, 91% of meals were found to be high in salt, while 89% of Cathedral City and Royal ready meals carried a red label for salt.
By contrast, none of WeightWatchers’ or The Gym Kitchen’s portfolio of ready meals were high in salt, demonstrating that “ready meals can be successfully made with significantly less salt”, said Action on Salt.
In the wake of the findings, the Action on Salt researchers, based at Queen Mary University of London, have called on the UK government to take regulatory action.
They have urged the government to revitalise the national salt reduction programme as a public health priority; immediately review the outdated 2024 salt reduction targets; and set new, stricter, mandatory salt targets with financial penalties on food businesses for non-compliance.
A ‘wake-up call’
“This new survey is a stark wake-up call,” said Blood Pressure UK chair Dr Pauline Swift.
“Excess salt in our food is directly linked to raised blood pressure – the biggest risk factor for strokes, heart disease and kidney disease – all of which are completely avoidable.
“Given it is estimated that around 4.2 million adults in England are living with undiagnosed high blood pressure, the government must act now to enforce stronger salt reduction targets and protect public health before even more lives are needlessly lost.”
Sonia Pombo, head of impact & research at Action on Salt, added: “It should not be this hard to eat healthily.
“We now need the government to stop pandering to industry interests and introduce mandatory salt reduction targets with real consequences for non-compliance.”
‘Lazy analysis’
When approached by The Grocer, a spokesman for Iceland said: “This report is inaccurate, selective, and not supported by a fair reading of the underlying data. Its lazy analysis is based on a sample of just 69 Iceland products - significantly fewer than the 190 to 194 products analysed for other major retailers.
“Drawing headline conclusions from a much smaller sample undermines the reliability of any ranking or comparison.
“Iceland performs better than, or on par, with other major supermarkets and manufacturers in regard to calorie content. In fact, 90% of the products that Iceland sell are classified as ‘healthy’ under the government nutritional profile model,” the spokesman insisted.
Meanwhile, a spokeswoman for the Jamie Oliver Group said: “We’ve always believed in balance, in our cookbooks, in our restaurants, and that remains consistent across our food products which range from healthy options – frozen veg and grain pouches – to the more indulgent ready meals.
“This is in line with Jamie’s long-standing 70:30 ethos.
“Everything is sourced to Jamie’s high food standards, there are no hidden artificial nasties or sugars, and we are always transparent with clear front-of-pack labelling about which of our range is more indulgent.”
A Charlie Bigham’s spokesman said: “We make food which is as tasty as possible, listening carefully to consumer feedback on the taste of dishes to make sure they reflect consumer palette.
“At Charlie Bigham’s we have been slowly reducing the amount of salt we put in our food and will continue to do so,” he added.
The Grocer has approached the other retailers and brands for comment.
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