Supermarket lunch meal deals contain up to 30 teaspoons of sugar, study finds

But if you make the right choices, a meal deal needn't be unhealthy

Millennials need to stop buying sandwiches and playing the Lottery if they want to get on the property ladder. (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

A study has found that lunchtime meal deals in supermarkets and high street shops contain up to 30 teaspoons of sugar.

Health campaigners Action on Sugar, based at Queen Mary University of London, are now calling for all high-sugar drinks and confectionery not to be included in popular meal deal promotions.

Meal deals, usually involving a main (such as a sandwich or pasta salad), drink and snack for a set price, are considered by many to be an affordable lunch option.

But the research has revealed particular food and drink combinations from WH Smith and Tesco contain 30 teaspoons of sugar, which is equivalent to the amount of sugar in 79 chocolate fingers and more than four times an adult’s daily maximum intake of free sugars.

The most sugary combination from WH Smith is the tuna and sweetcorn sandwich on malted brown bread with a Mountain Dew Citrus Blast 500ml drink and a bag of Skittles Crazy Sours - a meal that contains 811 calories.

But whilst many people look at the calories in their food choices, fewer pay attention to the sugar.

The worst Tesco combination is the supermarket's Smokehouse Pulled Chicken sandwich with Mesquite Style Sauce, a Monster Energy 500ml drink and Mars Duo - which contains 1,004 calories altogether.

They weren’t the only offenders though.

Others combinations coming in with high amounts of sugar included Morrisons’ Sweet Chilli Chicken Wrap with Relentless Passion Punch Energy 500ml drink and Millionaire Shortbread (28 teaspoons of sugar and 1048 kcal), and the Co-op Meal Pot Blackbean Pulled Beef & Noodle with Rockstar Blueberry Pomegranate Acai energy 500ml drink and Rocky Road Bar (28 teaspoons of sugar and 855 kcal).

The researchers also found a combination from Boots containing 24 teaspoons of sugar and 829 kcal, an example from Marks & Spencer with 20 teaspoons of sugar and 936 kcal, and an example from Sainsbury’s containing 20 teaspoons of sugar and 790 kcal.

However, it is possible to pick low-sugar options in a meal deal, with some combinations containing as little as one teaspoon of sugar in total.

But the campaigners say the majority of retailers are failing to promote healthy choices to their consumers.

Graham MacGregor, professor of cardiovascular medicine at Queen Mary University of London, and chairman of Action on Sugar, said: “Eating too much sugar is linked to obesity, type 2 diabetes and tooth decay.

“It may seem like it’s a good deal for our wallets, but some meal deal choices are a bad deal for our health.

“Furthermore, both manufacturers and retailers have a responsibility to their customer’s health and should go well beyond reducing the sugar in their products by 20 per cent, as Public Health England is calling for.”

Dr Alison Tedstone, chief nutritionist at Public Health England, added: “Retailers have a responsibility to make the healthy choice the easier choice.

“Promotions, such as meal deals, have a role to play in achieving this and enabling industry to reduce the amount of sugar we buy and consume.

“Industry is engaging positively in the sugar reduction programme for which we will publish a report in March 2018 - it will highlight where progress has been made and where further work is needed.”

And supermarkets have defended themselves in response to the findings.

A Tesco spokesman said: “This example is just one of over 13 million different meal deal combinations so our customers can choose from a wide variety of healthy options.

They added that they’re continuously making their products healthier to help the public make healthy food choices.

A Marks & Spencer spokeswoman added: “Our popular meal deal provides a balance of healthy and more indulgent options for our customers, with the mix and match element allowing customers to choose foods and drinks that suit their needs.

“We continue to offer healthy options across our meal deals and are pleased to have been found by CASH to offer the healthiest balance of drinks across meal deals.”

Spokespeople from Morrissons and Sainsbury’s have added that many of their meal deal options are low-sugar and sugar-free, and the head of food policy at the Co-op said that each part of their lunchtime meal deal includes a healthier option, “from fruit packs to low-fat or calorie sandwiches, salads and drinks without high sugar and all of our lunchtime own label products have traffic light labelling.”

And a spokeswoman for Boots said: “Our comprehensive healthy food strategy includes a nutritional framework for Boots Shapers, Nutritious and Delicious ranges, this includes controlled levels of calories, fat, saturated fat, salt and sugar in our foods, and our Shapers meal deal offers a lunch for under 500 calories.

“Healthier options such as fruit and nuts have always been included in the Boots Meal Deal since it started in 1999.”