Twelve 12 lunchtime options that are anything but healthy
For a lunch that doesn’t break the bank, a meal deal — typically a sandwich, snack and drink for around £3 — is tempting. But some are loaded with sugar, fat and as many as 900 calories.
‘An average woman won’t need more than 600 calories at lunchtime,’ says registered dietitian Helen Bond. ‘Regularly exceeding this by just 100 calories a month could lead to nearly a pound of weight gain.’
Common pitfalls include ‘healthy’ veggie options that are anything but, and ‘grab bag’ crisps that are bigger than ones you’d put in a packed lunch.
ANGELA DOWDEN shopped for lunch deals and asked Helen for her verdict. We then gave them a health rating.
Tesco
Falafel & houmous wrap PLUS Lindt Lindor chocolate treat bar PLUS Juicy Water orange and lemon 420ml — £3
Falafel & houmous wrap PLUS Lindt Lindor chocolate treat bar PLUS Juicy Water orange and lemon 420ml — £3
Calories, 798; saturated fat, 16g; sugar, 58.4g; protein, 13g; salt, 1.6g
VERDICT: You might think this wholesome wrap — a tomato tortilla filled with falafel, houmous and chutney — and fruity water would allow you a chocolate treat. But the drink has almost as much sugar as a can of cola and the meal itself provides nearly 15 teaspoons. This combination also has 80 per cent of your daily limit of saturated fat and exceeds the 600-calorie lunch limit.
Better to swap the drink for water, and the chocolate for an 80g snack bag of apples and grapes.
Health rating: 1/10
Boots
Shapers Moroccan Style Veggie Couscous salad PLUS Boots melon, apple and kiwi pot PLUS Diet Coke 500ml — £3.39
Shapers Moroccan Style Veggie Couscous salad PLUS Boots melon, apple and kiwi pot PLUS Diet Coke 500ml — £3.39
Calories, 204; saturated fat, 0.4g; sugar, 18.1g; protein, 6.1g; salt, 0.6g
VERDICT: The salad, packed with roasted butternut squash, aubergine and cos lettuce provides two of your five-a-day, while the fruit pot provides a third, so this is definitely a good choice — but it’s so low in energy that you could swap the fruit for an egg and spinach pot, which would add protein and another 60 calories.
If you have fruit and a handful of nuts as a snack later, this would still be a slimline day’s eating. The caffeine in the Diet Coke (around 63mg in 500ml) can give you a bit of a boost, but the acidity of soft drinks can damage teeth, so don’t have this regularly.
Health rating: 8/10
Co-op
Bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich PLUS 150g Greek-style raspberry yoghurt PLUS Rubicon Spring black cherry raspberry drink 500ml — £3
Bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich PLUS 150g Greek-style raspberry yoghurt PLUS Rubicon Spring black cherry raspberry drink 500ml — £3
Calories, 547; saturated fat, 7.2g; sugar, 23g; protein, 28.5g; salt, 2g
VERDICT: The malted sandwich supplies more than a fifth of your daily fibre and uses lower-fat mayonnaise, so it isn’t as bad as you’d think.
The drink is low in sugar, while yoghurt is a valuable source of calcium. The yoghurt contains the equivalent of over four teaspoons of sugar, but a third is natural sugar from milk.
However, you shouldn’t eat bacon too frequently — some research has suggested we should eliminate processed meat completely, given its high salt content and the link with bowel cancer, but eating it just once a week is a realistic limit.
Health rating: 6/10
Morrisons
Ham, cheese and pickle sandwich PLUS millionaire shortbread PLUS Volvic Touch of Fruit strawberry 750ml — £3
Ham, cheese and pickle sandwich PLUS millionaire shortbread PLUS Volvic Touch of Fruit strawberry 750ml — £3
Calories, 933; saturated fat, 19.2g; sugar, 71.4g; protein, 26.9g; salt, 2.5g
VERDICT: You won’t choose this thinking it’s healthy, but you may not realise quite how bad it is either. As well as more than 900 calories, there are 17 teaspoons of sugar here — most of it the added type!
Shockingly, more of the sugar comes from the flavoured water (34.5g, more than eight teaspoons) than the millionaire shortbread (26.5g, almost seven teaspoons). This combination also supplies virtually all your 20g daily limit of saturated fat and contains 40 per cent of your daily salt allowance. It’s salvageable as a treat if you swap the drink for plain water.
Health rating: 0/10
M&S
Wild salmon and cucumber sandwich PLUS Count On Us sour cream and chive potato crisps PLUS Still Water 500ml — £3.50
Wild salmon and cucumber sandwich PLUS Count On Us sour cream and chive potato crisps PLUS Still Water 500ml — £3.50
Calories, 477; saturated fat, 3.4g; sugar, 4.2g; protein, 24.9g; salt, 2.1g
VERDICT: This sandwich provides healthy omega 3 fats from the salmon plus 15 per cent of your daily vitamin D needs from the fortified bread. The baked crisps are made with whole sliced potatoes, better for controlling blood sugar than other baked snacks.
This meal deal contains the highest fibre here, with 30 per cent of your daily needs. Although it’s a pity there’s no fruit or veg included: everyone should aim to have at least one piece with their lunch. Buy an apple or a banana — or an M&S fruit pot (185g) — and this lunch would score a perfect ten.
Health rating: Expert's choice
Boots
Halloumi & courgetti wrap PLUS Go Go’s Protein Snack Oat Boost PLUS Sunsoul kaffir lime & lemon 100 per cent natural energy drink 250ml — £3.39
Halloumi & courgetti wrap PLUS Go Go’s Protein Snack Oat Boost PLUS Sunsoul kaffir lime & lemon 100 per cent natural energy drink 250ml — £3.39
Calories, 720; saturated fat, 12.3g; sugar, 27g; protein, 25g; salt, 2.1g
VERDICT: The wrap (423 calories) counts as one of your five-a-day because of the courgette, grilled peppers, spinach and butternut squash, but in total the lunch is over 700 calories — a lot if you’re sitting at a desk all afternoon.
Together, the wrap and snack (a trio of roasted beans, cheese and flapjack bites) provide 60 per cent of your maximum daily saturated fat and a third of your salt: it would be better to keep the wrap but swap the snack for a 100g pot of melon, apple and kiwi.
The energy drink will provide a lift similar to a cup of coffee, but has more than four teaspoons of added sugar.
Health rating: 3/10
Morrisons
Chicken salad sandwich PLUS 50g Mini Cheddars PLUS Tropicana Trop 50 400ml — £3
Chicken salad sandwich PLUS 50g Mini Cheddars PLUS Tropicana Trop 50 400ml — £3
Calories, 529; saturated fat, 3.9g; sugar, 28.9g; protein, 20g; salt, 2.2g
VERDICT: The salad of couscous, ham and pea shoots is a decent source of protein and low in saturated fat, though high in salt (1.94g). Ham is a processed meat so don’t choose it more than once a week.
Also, the greens aren’t high in fibre and won’t count as one of your five-a-day. Look for a salad with baby tomatoes or grated carrot to make it count. Malt loaf is a good option, with the dried fruit a source of fibre and iron. The drink lets this lunch down as it contains four-and-a-half teaspoons of sugar. Swapping it for water would be a healthier choice.
Health rating: 5/10
Sainsbury's
Chicken salad sandwich PLUS 50g Mini Cheddars PLUS Tropicana Trop 50 400ml — £3
Chicken salad sandwich PLUS 50g Mini Cheddars PLUS Tropicana Trop 50 400ml — £3
Calories, 742; saturated fat, 7.1g; sugar, 23g; protein, 35.3g; salt, 2.7g
VERDICT: By itself, a chicken salad sandwich is fairly nutritious, but when eaten with the 50g of snacks, this lunch is no longer healthy.
The Mini Cheddars have over 250 calories — as a rule, don’t pick a bag of crisps or savoury snacks bigger than 25g.
The high-calorie lunch also has 45 per cent of your daily limit of salt, and over a third of your daily saturated fat.
The drink is OK — it’s made with diluted orange juice and has 50 per cent less sugar than the standard version, and is a good source of vitamin C and folate, needed for a healthy immune system.
Health rating: 3/10
Greggs
Honey roast ham and egg sub roll PLUS tea with milk — £3
Honey roast ham and egg sub roll PLUS tea with milk — £3
Calories, 341; saturated fat, 1.8g; sugar, 2.9g; protein, 17g; salt, 1.6g
VERDICT: The Greggs meal deal is just a sandwich and a beverage, which can be a hot drink. This cuts back the risk of overdoing the calories.
A ham and egg sub with a cup of tea and milk is straightforward but nutritious, with low levels of sugar and saturated fat. Eggs are protein-rich, so will keep you feeling full, and the ham provides iron — but don’t have this processed meat more than once a week.
A piece of fruit will make this a decent lunch. The sub is white so a better choice from Greggs would be the egg mayonnaise sandwich on malted brown for more fibre (and to skip the processed meat).
Health rating: 7/10
Tesco
Beef and horseradish sandwich PLUS Walkers ready salted 32.5g PLUS Fanta Orange 500ml — £3
Beef and horseradish sandwich PLUS Walkers ready salted 32.5g PLUS Fanta Orange 500ml — £3
Calories, 632; saturated fat, 2.4g; sugar, 28.8g; protein, 25.1g; salt, 2.2g
VERDICT: This combination obviously isn’t the healthiest, but it’s not as dreadful as you might expect, either.
The sandwich is a reasonably good choice (365 calories) — the lean beef is high in protein, low in saturated fat and provides anaemia-protective iron.
Swapping the Fanta for the ‘zero sugar’ version would cut out 21g (more than five teaspoons) of sugar and 80 calories.
Although the crisps provide some fibre as well as vitamin C, swapping them for a bag of apples and grapes would make it healthier still.
Health rating: 5/10
Sainsbury's
On The Go tuna and cucumber sandwich PLUS On The Go carrot batons PLUS Innocent Seriously Strawberry smoothie 250ml — £3
On The Go tuna and cucumber sandwich PLUS On The Go carrot batons PLUS Innocent Seriously Strawberry smoothie 250ml — £3
Calories, 442; saturated fat, 0.6g; sugar, 35.6g; protein, 20.2g; salt, 1.5g
VERDICT: This meal deal is high in protein and provides more than a quarter of your daily fibre, without being high in calories, saturated fat or salt.
Together, the carrots and smoothie provide two of your five-a-day.
Smoothies are naturally high in sugar and have received bad publicity but if — like this 250ml serving — they’re not grossly oversized and contain whole crushed fruit, they can be a convenient replacement for snacking on fruit.
Just don’t have a smoothie every day.
Health rating: 9/10
Co-op
Cheese and tomato pasta PLUS Manzanilla olives PLUS San Pellegrino orange 330ml — £3
Cheese and tomato pasta PLUS Manzanilla olives PLUS San Pellegrino orange 330ml — £3
Calories, 653; saturated fat, 6g; sugar, 40.7g; protein, 14.53g, salt, 3.5g
VERDICT: Around ten per cent of the pasta pot is Cheddar cheese, which provides calcium. Pasta salads are a source of resistant starch (formed when pasta is cooked and cooled), which helps feed friendly bacteria in the gut.
However, the lunch is let down by high levels of salt and sugar — the olives are the main salt culprit. You may think fruity San Pellegrino is better than cola, but it has seven teaspoons of sugar — your daily limit. Switch the olives for pineapple chunks and the can for a low sugar option or water to make this lunch much healthier.
Health rating: 4/10