Branded products are not necessarily less nutritionally good than store brands. This is the conclusion of a survey conducted by the magazine “Que Choisir”, relayed by Radio France this Thursday, October 20. Good news as food price inflation is approaching 10%.
For the realization of this investigation, the journalists scrutinized the labels of a dozen everyday consumer products: jam, dry sausage, chocolate biscuits, brioches or mayonnaise. Result: the analysis of the nutritional value and the presence of problematic substances for health turns to the advantage, in 8 out of 12 cases, of private label products, therefore most often much less expensive.
Two identical products, the price of which goes from single to double
This is particularly the case for Lidl brand lasagna, which is made using the same recipe (and in the same factory) as the Marie brand reference. Only difference on arrival, the price: 2.99 euros at Lidl against 4.80 euros for the product of the famous brand of prepared products. It should be noted, however, that if these lasagna receive a good score (13.5/20), this is not the case for the other distributor brands analyzed, from Top Budget from Intermarché to Eco+ from E. Leclerc, passing by La cuisine des Saveurs d’Aldi and the Carrefour brand.
The reason for these price differences? Often the marketing budget that the big names devote to packaging or advertising.
Compare by analyzing labels yourself
As it is of course impossible to generalize, the best attitude, on the supermarket shelves, is to take the time to analyze the recipe for industrial preparations. The shorter and more understandable the list, the lower the sugar, salt and trans fat content, the better the product will be. To limit the time spent comparing, you can rely on free applications, such as the famous Yuka.
Note that this survey only considers revenue composition. It does not consider other factors such as the origin of the ingredients or their method of production. For example, specifies Elsa Abdoun, the journalist who coordinates the investigation, at Radio France, “ of the 34 low-cost products with meat examined, less than a third contained meat from French farms. »
To control your budget as well as possible and the origin of the food that you put on your plate, the ideal remains, specifies the magazine, to cook from fresh products, produced in France or in Europe.