The Sausage Test
- Reporter: Damien Hanson, Today Tonight
- Broadcast Date: November 10, 2009
With summer approaching we're starting to fire up the barbie again and Today Tonight's put the humble sausage to the test.
If you go and open your freezer most of us will find sausages - it would almost be un-Australian not to.
They are easy and they are cheap, but do we actually know what we're eating?
Dietitian Julie Gilbert believes sausages are no longer a diet don't.
"In the past sausages have been really high in fat and haven't been a great choice to really have on our dinner plate. But now we are actually seeing more gourmet sausages coming onto the market and they could actually be a food choice that we could have almost everyday."
As long as you don't have ten at a time and you go for a healthy sausage, with less than 10% fat that is. Also, keep in mind there are Australian standards for meat and fat content.
Today Tonight presented Glen Pinna from Biotech Laboratories with packs of sausages from seven different butchers and supermarkets and asked him to report on what was in each.
"We were looking for the moisture content, salt, the fat content and the lean meat or fat free content of each of the types of sausages," Glen said.
"It is a requirement for sausages that fifty grams in every hundred grams be made up of lean meat or fat free meat. You cannot have less than fifty grams per one hundred grams."
But according to Today Tonight's test results, some manufacturers are ignoring the standards.
Of the fourteen sausages tested, ten made the grade on lean meat content. Aldi's gourmet sausages had a lean meat content of nearly 68 per cent and a fat content of 15.5 per cent. Thin Greek style sausages from IGA also had close to 68 per cent lean meat but more fat at just over 22 per cent.
Coles thin beef sausages fared well with 10% more than the required amount of lean meat, but were the highest in salt (nearly 5 per cent). Super Butcher's lamb and rosemary offering was relatively high in fat at over 11 per cent and contained just over 59 grams of lean meat per one hundred gram serve.
Big Gun Butcher's, Coles and Super Butcher's sausages all contained more than the required amount of lean meat.
"Some of the results were really good and two of the sausages had in the low to mid eighty per cent level compared to the standard - that's an excellent result," Glen said.
And it was sausages from the Meat Warehouse that were the standout - they both contained more than 80% lean meat - more than double the meat of some of the products tested and they were also low in fat and salt.
But four failed and according to our investigation, were in breach of the Australian food standard.
"Any result under fifty is really unacceptable, in particular one of the samples came in at 39 per cent or 39 grams per 100 grams," Glen said.
Aldi's thin beef sausages not only fell short of the approved lean meat content, they were dripping in 24.3 per cent fat.
But Aldi disputes Toay Tonight's results and say they abide by and adhere to the Australian Meat and Meat Products Standards.
In a statement they said - 'All our products are rigorously and independently tested on a regular basis. The independent testing undertaken shows that the Aldi flavoured beef sausages have a lean meat content of 54.89 per cent. Our specifications for the product are well within Australian standards'.
The thick beef sausages from Big Gun Butchery in Brisbane's south contained just under 45 per cent lean meat and with 25 per cent fat, had the most fat of all the brands tested.
Woolworths brand sausages also failed, according to our test. Their thin beef sausages and lamb, rosemary and garlic sausages had 49.8 per cent and 49 per cent lean meat respectively.
But Woolworths also dispute our independent tests - 'Woolworths has strict quality assurance processes in place and results of our most recent external test results show the lean meat content of both products were in accordance with the requirements of the food standards code. That said, we are surprised at Today Tonight's findings and we are now investigating'.
Julie Gilbert says think about your the taste buds but also your heart when buying for your next barbeque. Check the packet for nutritional information and ask your butcher exactly what is in the snags.
"You can eat sausages at least once or twice a week and feel very comfortable that you are eating a product that is quite healthy, that is lean and is also good for the family," Julie said.
See our Sausage Test Results
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