PDA

View Full Version : Salt content of veggie sausages and burgers



Jiffy
May 20th, 2008, 08:54 AM
Apologies if this has been posted elsewhere already. A report has been published regarding the salt content of meat free burgers and sausages

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/2008/05/19/salt-warning-over-vegetarian-sausages-86908-20422306/

http://www.which.co.uk/reports_and_campaigns/food_and_drink/reports/diet_nutrition_and_safety/cash_vegetarian_salt_news_article_557_138778.jsp

There was also a prominent feature in the Daily Mail. Whilst I realise that given the prevailing political climate within these hallowed portals there will be very few DM fans here, one must admit that it does have a wide circulation.

I find this very worrying. Don't get me wrong I realise that you shouldn't eat these convienience foods too often, but what a nice coup for the corpse industry.

Call me cynical or even paranoid, but isn't it uncanny how this report should be unleashed to coincide with the start of the barbeque season? I know that some vegans heartily dissaprove of faux meats in general, but they are handy for new vegans.

What the report didn't say was how the salt content of these products compared with their corpse counterparts. I wonder how the saturated fat content would compare. I'm now bracing myself for some smug sniping from carnivores.

As for Fry's foods, I can't help thinking that they have done us a great disservice with their whopping salt content.

Maisiepaisie
May 20th, 2008, 10:05 AM
I wish they would stop putting so much salt in processed foods. There's nothing to stop people adding it at the table. I've cut down on salt recently and now I don't like the taste of foods with excessive salt. They ought to cut back on the salt in Cheezly and in Bisto and Tescos own vegetable instant gravy. Just a couple of offenders that spring to mind.

Just noticed this typo in the second link:

Children who ate the product would get far more than their maximum recommended sausage

Didn't realise there were maximum recommendations for sausages :D

Enchantress
May 20th, 2008, 10:22 AM
How long does a sausage have to be before it's considered excessively long for a child? 8"? 9"? :D

Pob
May 20th, 2008, 12:27 PM
I stopped eating Fry's burgers for that very reason. The Braai flavoured sausages are much lower in salt than the traditional ones.

Risker
May 20th, 2008, 12:37 PM
Having just checked there seem to be plenty of meat sausages/burgers with similar amounts of salt in and that article doesn't appear to be comparing like for like, they are comparing 'per sausage' when they should be comparing 'per 100g'.

Personally I like there being a fair amount of salt in my sausages/burgers, it's tasty, and as has been said, you're not supposed to eat them every day.

Darky_
May 20th, 2008, 01:18 PM
Ooooh shame but, mmmmmm frys Burgers rock my barms! :wink_ani:
hahaha

Risker
May 20th, 2008, 03:10 PM
Fry's Vegetarian Traditional Sausage contained 2.8g of salt per sausage, giving anyone eating two sausages almost all their maximum recommended daily limit of 6g.

Children who ate the product would get far more than their maximum recommended sausage

In contrast, one pork sausage from Sainsbury's contained 0.7g of salt, a quarter that of the vegetarian option.

I have just cooked up some fry's vegetarian hot dogs, 0.7g sodium per 100g 0.32g per sausage. (that's 1.75g salt per 100g, 0.8g salt per sausage), virtually identical to the sainsburys sausages.

Lets compare the rest of the stats...

Fry's hotdog first;


Average Values Per 100g
ENERGY 1036 kJ, 247.0 kcal
PROTEIN 19.20 g
FAT –(Total) 14.00 g
Saturated 6.60 g
Trans Fatty Acids <1 %
Mono-unsaturated 6.40 g
Poly-unsaturated 1.00 g
CARBOHYDRATE (Total) 11.20 g
(of which sugars) 1.40 g
FIBRE 0.84 g
SODIUM 0.70 g
http://www.frys-special.com/Prod_Hotdogs.asp

Now sainsbury's sausage;



Nutrition Per 100g:
Energy 1100 kJ, 264 kcal
Protein 15.2g
Carbohydrate 8.6g
of which sugars 0.2g
starch 8.4g
Fat 18.8g
of which saturates 7.9g
mono-unsaturates 8.8g
polyunsaturates 1.7g
Fibre 0.4g
Salt 1.3g
of which sodium 0.5g
http://www.sainsburys.com/groceries/index.jsp?bmUID=1211291773650

Fry's hotdog contains 26% more protein 34% less fat and 210% more fibre.

Admittedly, worked out per 100g Fry's does contain 35% more salt but it's not as clear cut as the article makes out.

gogs67
May 20th, 2008, 07:58 PM
'Daily Record' ,:rolleyes: stopped reading after that! If anything like balanced journalism ever happens to be in that rag i may well eat one of these lower salt meat sausages they are on about!:D

Hemlock
May 20th, 2008, 08:10 PM
Risker you're going to have to stop doing these sums posts, I haven't got enough fingers (or toes):D

bryzee86
May 20th, 2008, 08:34 PM
Risker you're going to have to stop doing these sums posts, I haven't got enough fingers (or toes):D

You might have to dust off the abacus, deary.

Russ
May 26th, 2008, 12:24 AM
How long does a sausage have to be before it's considered excessively long for a child? 8"? 9"? :D

lol we are treading close to dangerous territory

Mila
May 26th, 2008, 02:58 AM
Hmm, why is it that people want to think that the only viable protein sources for vegetarians and vegans is commercially prepared false meats? You can easily whip up a black bean burger or sausage from dried beans and flavor it without salt or with false salt.

Jiffy
May 26th, 2008, 12:09 PM
Hmm, why is it that people want to think that the only viable protein sources for vegetarians and vegans is commercially prepared false meats? You can easily whip up a black bean burger or sausage from dried beans and flavor it without salt or with false salt.

I agree, but vegans, like everyone else do get lazy or pushed for time and now and again feel the need for convienience foods.

harpy
May 26th, 2008, 12:18 PM
I agree, but vegans, like everyone else do get lazy or pushed for time and now and again feel the need for convienience foods.

Yes, I'm glad you can get them, but try to have them only occasionally as they aren't exactly "health food" (even though you buy them in the "health food shop" :D ).

If you just have them now and then I don't think the salt etc content is too much of a worry (unless you have some particular health concern I suppose). Although obviously it would be good if the manufacturers could make them as healthy as poss.

Russ
May 26th, 2008, 12:45 PM
I eat 'convenience' foods like these all the time and find no ill effects ... if I one day eat more 'raw' then I get really hungry and tired ...

Though 20 minutes cooking time isn't exactly convenient lol

harpy
May 26th, 2008, 01:19 PM
Though 20 minutes cooking time isn't exactly convenient lol

No, I don't usually spend much more than that preparing meals I don't think, and I generally do mine from first principles - well, apart from pasta and stuff like that.

I don't have any experience of a raw diet, but in terms of cooked food you can certainly make filling meals without using fake meats.

ellaminnowpea
May 31st, 2008, 04:19 PM
I just checked on my package of vegan burgers in the back of the freezer. I've probably eaten then like twice in over 8 months... not because of the salt because its so processed and heavy in my stomach. They have only 280mg sodium/ patty. I don't think that's excessive at all. The RDA in the US is 10x this... I highly doubt that vegans blood pressures are on par with omnis. And why aren't they looking at all that saturated fat!!

emzy1985
Jun 1st, 2008, 06:43 AM
Maybe we should write en mass to Frys etc and see if that helps. After all we are their core customers are we not?

Risker
Jun 2nd, 2008, 03:33 PM
I like Fry's products, I'd be disappointed if they change the recipe to reduce the amount of salt etc. Salt is tasty and if I wanted to eat healthily I wouldn't be eating sausages and burgers.

Cumin
Jun 2nd, 2008, 03:54 PM
Choice & Responsibility !
We've got labelling, we know the content, so we can make the choice.
If people choose not to read, or think then it's their lookout.

For Pete's sake...