 |
Not a sausage?
The gulf between economy sausages and the best made bangers could not be wider, yet
sometimes looking at the labels it can be hard to tell them apart!
We eat nearly 5 billion sausages at home, and our appetite for them is expanding.
Many more are sold by street traders, cafes, restaurants and of course in schools.
Sausage manufacturers fall into clear categories, those producing top-of-the range
sausages with prices in excess of £5/kilo, made with quality meat cuts and those
operating at the budget end where sausages sell for less than £1/kilo, even less to caterers.
Yet those who need the best – growing children, the elderly and those in hospital have, in
the past, nearly always been given the worst. At last, with strict new guidelines in all
sectors, things are changing – particularly for kids.
The secret of producing a budget sausage lies in fat and protein engineering. Look out
for pig rind, it is an essential ingredient in the protein engineer’s toolbox and may still
be called meat. Fat management is very sophisticated; scientists have found a way to make
the fat stay in the sausage when it is cooked. This is highly saturated fat and is a serious
contender to clogging up your arteries.
A sausage manufacturer at the top end of the market was recently reported as saying “Our pigs
are fed the best possible wheatgerm, the best milk and the best soya, yet children are often
fed rubbish. Funny isn’t it?” This gourmet sausage company uses high quality ingredients,
including prime shoulder and belly pork which is mixed with fresh herbs, wine, garlic and
olive oil.
Take at look at the ingredients and judge yourself!
 |
|
|
| Budget |
|
Premium |
Ingredients:
Pork (32%), Water, Rusks (Wheat Flour, Water, Salt, Raising Agent:
Ammonium Carbonate), Pork Fat, Pork Rinds, Salt, Stabilisers: Sodium Di- and
Triphosphates;, Dextrose, Preservative: Sodium Sulphite, Colour: Cochineal,
Phosphoric Acid, Herbs, Spice Extracts, Antioxidants: Ascorbyl Palmitate, Alpa-Tocopherol,
Herb Extracts, Filled in a beef protein casing. |
|
Ingredients:
Pork (95%), Water, Breadcrumbs,
Salt, Worcester sauce powder, Pepper, Onion powder, Nutmeg, Sage, Coriander,
Preservative: Sodium Meta bisulphite, Antioxidants: Sodium ascorbate, Filled in natural
pork casing. |
There’s a website dedicated to the British sausage where you can vote for your favourite.
http://www.sausagelinks.co.uk
Download this article
|