How Much Meat is in Your Sausage?

HOW MEATY IS YOUR SAUSAGE? The Great British Banger. We all love sausages but, what ARE they? It's a well known fact that sausages aren't traditionally made up of the most desirable ingredients, and maybe contain less meat than we'd like to admit, but boy are they TASTY. SAUSAGE FACTS IN BRITAIN 86% SAUSAGE MACHINES... FILL SAUSAGE SKINS OF HOUSEHOLDS AT A RATE OF BUY SAUSAGES EVERY MONTH. 1.5 MPH! SO, WHAT'S IN A SAUSAGE? % MEAT OTHER... Generally, pork sausage must contain a minimum of 42 percent meat, but the minimum is 32 percent meat if the package is labelled as generic sausage. Ear, snout and cheek are allowed in sausages, but will be labelled as 'head meat'. So with meat content in mind, are we getting high quality sausages when we do our weekly shop? ARE WE GETTING OUR MONEY'S WORTH? We compared the big 8 supermarket offerings, across their Basic, Standard, Premium and Reduced Fat ranges. We also did the same for some popular brands. LETS 'MEAT THE CONTENDERS... PRICE PER SAUSAGE* This is based on pack price + number of sausages in each pack. 10P per sausage 30P TRUE COST OF PURE MEAT Cost of a sausage, were it 100% meat. (Pack price + number in pack + meat %) if 100% meat 'THE SUPERMARKET SAUSAGE TESCO 100 JOINT BEST VALUE 90 80 70 43P 60 if 100% meat 42P 50 17P per sausage if 100% meat 40 9P per sausage 30 20 10 BASIC STANDARD PREMIUM REDUCED FAT £ Pack £1.09 for 12 £1.70 for 8 £2.50 for 6 £1.70 for 8 £ Sausage £0.09 £0.21 £0.42 £0.21 £ 100% meat £0.17 £0.30 £0.43 £0.30 ASDA 100 90 80 70 40P 60 if 100% meat 36P 50 per sausage 25P if 100% meat 40 13P 30 per sausage 20 10 BASIC STANDARD PREMIUM REDUCED FAT £ Pack £1.00 for 8 £1.39 for 8 £2.15 for 6 £1.39 for 8 £ Sausage £0.13 £0.17 £0.36 £0.17 £ 100% meat £0.25 £0.24 £0.40 £0.24 SAINSBURY'S 100 90 80 70 60 43P if 100% meat 50 22P 42P per sausage if 100% meat 40 11P 30 per sausage 20 10 BASIC STANDARD PREMIUM REDUCED FAT £ Pack £0.90 for 8 £1.30 for 8 £2.50 for 6 £1.50 for 8 £ Sausage £0.11 £0.16 £0.42 £0.22 £ 100% meat £0.22 £0.23 £0.43 £0.31 MORRISONS 100 90 80 70 47P if 100% meat 60 21P 40P per sausage 50 if 100% meat 13P 40 per sausa 30 20 10 BASIC STANDARD PREMIUM REDUCED FAT £ Pack £1.00 for 8 £1.65 for 8 £4.00 for 10 £1.77 for 8 £ Sausage £0.13 £0.21 £0.40 £0.22 £ 100% meat £0.21 £0.29 £0.47 £0.31 LIDL 100 JOINT BEST VALUE 90 80 70 35P if 100% meat 60 33P 50 17P per sausage if 100% meat 40 9P per sausage 30 20 10 BASIC STANDARD PREMIUM REDUCED FAT £ Pack £1.09/12 £1.29 for 8 £1.99 for 6 £1.29 for 8 £ Sausage £0.09 £0.16 £0.33 £0.16 £ 100% meat £0.17 £0.22 £0.35 £0.22 ALDI 100 JOINT BEST VALUE 90 80 70 34P 60 if 100% meat 33P 50 per sausage 17P if 100% meat 40 9P per sausage 30 20 10 BASIC STANDARD PREMIUM REDUCED FAT £ Pack £1.09 for 12 £1.29 for 8 £1.99 for 6 £1.29 for 8 £ Sausage £0.09 £0.16 £0.33 £0.16 £ 100% meat £0.17 £0.22 £0.34 £0.22 WAITROSE 100 'WURST VALUE 90 80 73P 70 if 100% meat 63P 60 per sausage 32P if 100% meat 50 21P per sausage 40 30 20 10 BASIC STANDARD PREMIUM REDUCED FAT £ Pack £1.70 for 8 £3.29 for 6 £3.79 for 6 £ Sausage £0.21 £0.55 £0.63 £ 100% meat £0.32 £0.57 £0.73 MARKS AND SPENCER 100 90 80 55P 70 if 100% meat 53P 60 per sausage 21P 50 if 100% meat 13Р 40 per sausage 30 20 10 BASIC STANDARD PREMIUM REDUCED FAT £ Pack £1.00 for 8 £2.29 for 8 £3.20 for 6 £ Sausage £0.13 £0.29 £0.53 £ 100% meat £0.21 £0.37 £0.55 STANDARD SAUSAGE BRANDS 100 'WURST VALUE 90 80 70 60 23P 50 if 100% meat 14P 40 per sausage LOWEST 30 meat content 20 10 RICHMOND THICK WALLS THICK DENNY AND SONS £ Pack £2.00 for 8 £2.10 for 8 £1.10 for 8 £ Sausage £0.25 £0.26 £0.14 £ 100% meat £0.60 £0.38 £0.23 OH DEAR RICHMOND THICK PORK SAUSAGES. NOT MUCH PORK IN THOSE BANGERS! INTERESTINGLY, THE TERM BANGER ORIGINATES FROM WORLD WAR I. THERE WAS A MEAT SHORTAGE, AND SAUSAGES WERE MADE WITH SUCH HIGH WATER CONTENT, THEY'D POP AND EXPLODE WHEN COOKED. SAUSAGE FACT PREMIUM SAUSAGE BRANDS 100 'WURST VALUE BEST VALUE 90 80 72P if 100% meat 70 50P 60 per sausage HIGHEST meat content 50 36P 40 if 100% meat 30P 30 per sausage 20 10 POWTERS NEWMARKET НЕСК DEBBIE AND ANDREWS £ Pack £3.10 for 6 £3.15 for 6 £3.00 for 10 £ Sausage £0.52 £0.53 £0.30 £ 100% meat £0.72 £0.54 £0.36 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 PORKY LIGHTS BLACK FARMER JOLLY HOG £ Pack £3.00 for 6 £3.00 for 6 £3.00 for 6 £ Sausage £0.50 £0.50 £0.50 £ 100% meat £0.67 £0.56 £0.60 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 FINNEBROGUE MUSK'S NEWMARKET EDEN TRADITIONAL £ Pack £3.00 for 6 £3.05 for 6 £3.00 for 6 £ Sausage £0.50 £0.51 £0.50 £ 100% meat £0.57 £0.68 £0.63 100 90 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 EDWARDS OF CONWY RANKIN GILLS DIRECTOR'S £ Pack £3.00 for 6 £3.20 for 6 £3.00 for 6 £ Sausage £0.50 £0.53 £0.50 £ 100% meat £0.71 £0.63 £0.59 SAUSAGE FACTS FILL US IN! So, if our sausage isn't 100% meat (premium or otherwise) what is the rest of the sausage made up of...? Rusk is a twice-baked dry biscuit, broken into particles and used as a food additive in sausage manufacture. Rusk was originally made from stale bread (which is why a lot of sausages weren't gluten free), but a yeast-free variety is now more commonly used. Other ingredients can include potato and soy, additional food additives, preservatives, spices (historically used to mask the taste of inferior meat, but now mainly as a preference), salt and water. WHAT AM I? SO, TO CONCLUDE... HIGHER MEAT BETTER CONTENT SAUSAGES BUT, HIGHER MEAT CONTENT DOES NOT NECESSARILY MEAN BETTER VALUE - CHECK YOUR PRICES! SOURCES lovepork.co.uk express.co.uk Y wikipedia.co.uk lifedeathprizes.com *prices and information correct at time of publishing. % MEAT CONTENT % MEAT CONTENT % MEAT CONTENT % MEAT CONTENT % MEAT CONTENT % MEAT CONTENT % MEAT CONTENT % MEAT CONTENT % MEAT CONTENT % MEAT CONTENT % MEAT CONTENT % MEAT CONTENT % MEAT CONTENT %LS %LS %L9 75% 72% 87% %ZL %0L %L6 97% %06 %0L %L6 85% %L6 %SL %06 %98 %0L %7L 72% UNAVAILABLE %09 UNAVAILABLE 85% %08