Pork pies

I don’t wish to get into the argument over the rights and wrongs of the Food Standards Agency’s traffic light labelling for food. However, I have noticed a certain selectivity at my local supermarket as to which foods are so labelled. (A supermarket which has taken its ‘Try something different today’ slogan to the extreme of replacing many of its food aisles with clothing. What to they want me to do — eat a T-shirt?) Its more upmarket ranges (Be good to yourself, Taste the difference) seem to be almost entirely labelled with the Wheel of Health. Its cheaper ranges, such as Basics are almost totally devoid of them. So those ranges most likely to appeal to those parts of the community where obesity is most prevalent are the ones where the simple guidance of the FSA’s scheme is missing. Similarly expensive ready meals are fully traffic light labelled, cheaper snacks, like pasties and pork pies, are not. So, in the interests of public health, here, based on the FSA’s technical guidance is the nutrition information for a Sainsburys 150 g Melton Mowbray Pork Pie. Per 100 grams

Carbohyrate:            21.7 g
of which sugars         1.1 g   low
Fat                        25.9 g   high
of which saturates    9.6 g   high
Salt                        1.8 g   high

Admittedly, I didn’t need a brightly coloured label to realise that a pork pie was not the healthiest food on offer. But there are many that might benefit from, at least, a reminder at the point of purchase of what it and similar foods contain.

Oh, and before anyone asks, yes the pork pie, washed down with a glass (or two) of honeysuckle wine, was very enjoyable.