MSE News: 'Value' supermarket brands as good as standard – study

The_Thrilla

I agree with Nebo247 and Geordie Joe. The article is totally misleading, and it minces words like it were written by a politician. "It has the same nutritional value." A tin of John West Skipjack Tuna may well have the same nutritional value as a tin of cat food, but no way am I eating a Whiskas salad. Yes a jar of own brand instant coffee may be a lot cheaper than the mocha beans I buy specially, or even a bag of Douwe Egberts ground coffee, but the own brand instant is undrinkable. And coffee is a good example. I have never seen own brand ground coffee or beans. But I have seen own brand instant coffee. Why? Because the instant coffee is processed.

So when you are buying tins of this own brand carp, you are buying corporate food. Yes there may not be any detectable difference between a branded name of white bread and the BASIC brand. That is because both breads are baked by the so-called Chorleywood method, which flash-proves, and loads the bread with extra gluten. The resulting bread is more like eating cotton wool than bread. It doesn't matter who makes it, or what name is on the packet, or what Suffolk Trading Standards or MSE says, I ain't eating that !!!!!!.

If you buy raw meat from a butcher, fish from the fishmonger, and fresh fruit and vegetables, you don't need to eat corporate food, and you can avoid all the carp that that Suffolk Trading Standards and MSE are shilling.

Why did I have a fresh pineapple for breakfast, when I could have had a tin of Tesco own-brand pineapple chunks in a gooey syrup? Give me a break!

kerri_gt

superpete wrote: »

i might just consider the 9p curry sauce.

My hubby went through a stage of the 9p curry sauce over chips and loved it as it was the closest thing he could find that was like the curry sauce from the local Chinese.

FATBALLZ

kerri_gt wrote: »

My hubby went through a stage of the 9p curry sauce over chips and loved it as it was the closest thing he could find that was like the curry sauce from the local Chinese.

Says more about the local Chinese than the quality of the sauce if you ask me!

geordie_joe

kerri_gt wrote: »

My hubby went through a stage of the 9p curry sauce over chips and loved it as it was the closest thing he could find that was like the curry sauce from the local Chinese.

Me too, I bought loads when it was only 4p, still got a dozen tins left. I like it because it's just like the curry sauce I used to get at my local chippy.

geordie_joe

FATBALLZ wrote: »

Says more about the local Chinese than the quality of the sauce if you ask me!

There's nothing wrong with the curry, and probably nothing wrong with the local Chinese either.

Please don't post and say the curry must be rubbish if they can sell it at 9p, it's not rubbish.

juno

The_Thrilla wrote: »

And coffee is a good example. I have never seen own brand ground coffee or beans. But I have seen own brand instant coffee. Why? Because the instant coffee is processed.

Co-op do own brand ground coffee. Not value, but own brand, which is what you said

jumpycheese1

The Thrilla

Sainsburys do their own ground coffee and beans. There is a basics ground coffee and I've never tried that.

The_Thrilla

My God! Is nothing sacred? It's like 1984 with Victory rot-gut gin and Victory cigarettes, where you go to spark one up and the tobacco falls out.

The_Thrilla

Next thing they'll have own brand spliffs.

kerri_gt

FATBALLZ wrote: »

Says more about the local Chinese than the quality of the sauce if you ask me!

I don't beleive I posted that the local Chinese curry sauce was some perfectly nutritionally balance wonder sauce, I just said my hubby likes it, and the 9p sauce tasted the same. For the record, its not to my taste but each to their own.

I think the argument between Value and Standard/Branded goods etc it to use some common sense. For items like sasuages, it's pretty obvious that the Value ones as likely to have a lower meat content, and that the top priced Outdoor bred, British, 80% pork etc etc are probably going to be nutritionally better. But when it comes to things like tinned fruit, veg, fresh fruit etc, I really can't tell any difference (I'm going to cook with my fresh veg, not admire the fact the more expensive ones are all identically shaped.)

Like many of the others have said, it's all down to individual tastes, beans, i'm not that keen on Heinz as I find them a bit think - I prefer Branstons. Spaghetti (tinned) Asda Smart Price is lovely on toast. Chopped toms - tinned, Smart Price again. But bangers, I buy more expensive for the meat content and animal welfare as well as buying British (and often I buy those from my local farm). I can afford to spend more of those by saving money on other items.

Swings and roundabouts.

Oh and btw (as all good MSE know) Value brands don't always work out cheapest - they might have the lowest price on shelf but when you check the price by weigh on the SEL sometimes they can actually cost more in the long run :eek: