A Chelsea-based nutritionist has spoken out against high street meal deals after research showed they contained the same amount of sugar as 79 chocolate fingers.
Action on Sugar has reported that some deals contain up to 30 teaspoons of sugar across three items of food and drink, bought from the most popular supermarkets.
Geeta Sidhu-Robb, a nutritionist and holistic health and food technician who runs Nosh Detox, believes high street stores must do more to educate their customers.
Ms. Sidhu-Robb said: “These retailers are trusted by so many to provide us with the best quality products, so the meal deals that are clearly laced with sugar need to be addressed.
“It is vitally important that we, as the paying customer, are fully aware of what we are buying and eating – even more so for mothers who buy these meal deals for their young children to eat for their lunches as their daily allowance is lower.
“It should always be made apparent and readily accessible what is going into our foods as some people are less tolerant than others when it comes to certain ingredients.”
The study showed that one of the worst meal deals came from Tesco, containing a smokehouse pulled chicken sandwich with mesquite-style sauce, a Monster Energy drink and a Mars Duo chocolate bar – racking up a total of 1,004 calories, which contains around four times an adult’s daily recommended sugar intake.
Another was Co-op’s black bean pulled beef and noodle meal pot with Rockstar Xdurance blueberry pomegranate acai energy drink and rocky road bar, equalling to 855 calories and around 28 teaspoons of sugar.
Ms. Sidhu-Robb believes diets excessively high in sugar can lead to various health complications such as diabetes and obesity, and shoppers should be aware of what ingredients are in the food they are buying.
