The most calorie party food favourites! Experts warn buffet food can be packed full of nasties
Millions of Britons will take part in street parties this weekend.
Supermarkets report that quiches, pork pies and scotch eggs are flying out of the store because of the so-called ‘coronation effect’.
But you might not want to spot so many buffet meals this weekend, because just one serving of quiche can have more calories than a McDonalds Cheese Burger.
And a single pork pie is packed with more saturated fat than a large serving of McDonalds fries.
In addition to being packed with calories and saturated fat, a MailOnline audit found that an M&S Quiche Lorraine also has more salt than three packs of Walker’s Ready Salted Chips.
Supermarkets have reported that quiches, pork pies and scotch eggs are flying off the shelves due to the so-called ‘coronation effect’
Britons across the country will take part in street parties this weekend. While some of these little picnic items, such as mini sausage rolls and scotch eggs, may seem like a light snack, it’s easy to chew hundreds of calories without even noticing, experts warn
This website looked at the nutritional value of hundreds of quiches, pork pies, scotch eggs and sausage rolls sold in the UK’s largest supermarkets.
The audit found Morrison’s goat cheese and caramelised onion option (£3.99) per 100g of quiche to be the biggest offender, at 373 calories.
It’s also full of them 13.6 g of saturated fat – that’s about 4 g more than in a McDonalds Big Mac.
A Picard Lorraine Quiche (£4.50), sold on Ocado, was also one of the most fattening options, at 267 calories.
It also has 1.1g of salt – the same amount as three Mozzarella Dippers at McDonalds.
A Higgidy quiche with smoked bacon and cheddar ($2.36) sold at Waitrose has 273 calories and contains 0.76g of salt in just 100g.
WHAT SHOULD A BALANCED DIET LOOK LIKE?
Meals should be based on potatoes, bread, rice, pasta or other starchy carbohydrates, ideally whole grains, according to the NHS
¿ Eat at least 5 servings of different fruits and vegetables every day. All fresh, frozen, dried and canned fruit and vegetables count
¿ Basic meals on potatoes, bread, rice, pasta or other starchy carbohydrates, preferably whole grains
¿ 30 grams of fiber per day: This is equivalent to eating all of the following: 5 servings of fruits and vegetables, 2 whole-wheat muesli biscuits, 2 thick slices of whole-wheat bread, and a large baked potato with skin
¿ Have some dairy or dairy alternatives (such as soy drinks) and choose lower-fat, lower-sugar options
¿ Eat some beans, legumes, fish, eggs, meat and other proteins (including 2 servings of fish per week, one of which is oily)
¿ Choose unsaturated oils and spreads and consume in small quantities
¿ Drink 6-8 cups/glasses of water per day
¿ Adults should have less than 6 g of salt and 20 g of saturated fat for women or 30 g for men per day
Source: NHS Eatwell Guide
Adults are advised not to consume more than 6 g of salt per day.
The highest calorie pork pie on offer was a Melton Mowbray option sold at Waitrose (£1.80), which weighs 75g and contains 291 calories each.
They are also loaded with 7.2 g of saturated fat and 0.66 g of salt.
The recommended daily calorie intake is 2,000 calories for women and 2,500 for men.
That means if you ate just two of these pork pies, you would have consumed about a quarter of your daily intake.
While the pork and chroizo pies at Asda (£2.50) are just 25g per small pie, they pack 95 calories each, making it easy to consume hundreds of calories.
For Scotch eggs, one of the worst offending products in the audit is sold by Waitrose.
The Summer Scotch Egg (£3.50) weighs 140g and contains 438 calories.
The snack also contains 10.2 g of saturated fat, which is more than a third of a man’s recommended daily intake of 30 g and half that of a woman, which is only 20 g.
Smaller whiskey eggs can contain about 50 calories per bite-sized snack.
For example, the Tesco mini savory eggs (£1.35) are 49 calories for a scotch egg which is just 21g.
The highest-calorie sausage roll is the Aldi Specially Selected Pork, Bacon, and Cheddar Sausage Roll ($1.99) with 188 calories for a 47g roll.
The Crestwood ready-made puff pastry and bacon sausage rolls sold at Aldi ($1.29) are just 30g each, but contain 93 calories.
However, many of these bite-sized treats aren’t high in sugar, with Sainsbury’s mini sausage rolls (£1.75) containing less than 0.5g of sugars in a 10g bite-sized snack.
Adults should not consume more than 30 grams of sugars per day, according to the NHS.
While some of these little picnic meals may seem like a light snack, it’s easy to chew hundreds of calories without even noticing.
Registered dietitian Dr Duane Mellor, at Aston University in Birmingham, said: ‘It’s great to be able to celebrate and enjoy party or picnic meals.
“However, it can be difficult to know how much we’ve eaten, especially when some of our favorite foods like pork pies, scotch eggs and quiche can be high in calories, saturated fat and salt.”
But he does suggest topping up your baked goods and meat products with some salad, but not the kind covered in greasy mayonnaise.
Dr. Mellor added: ‘It’s not always necessary to avoid these foods when you’re partying with others, just remember you might only pick one up at a time.
And fill your party plate with vegetables and salad (not just those in creamy mayonnaise and oil-based sauces with lots of croutons) and fruit.
“So you can enjoy a range of dishes, perhaps taking it easy on the pastry-based items and topping it up with fresh fruit and salad.”