Most of us are guilty of it - grabbing a shop bought jar of sauce when we're short on time.
If you're one of the many people who uses pre-made jars of tomato sauce, the latest announcement from Dolmio means that you should be careful about how often you consume their sauces. Mars food, who produces the Dolmio range,recently released a statement to advise us all to stick to having just one Dolmio sauce a week. But why? Surely a company who prides themselves on the "naturalness of their ingredients" wouldn't readily admit their products aren't suitable for regular consumption? After all, it's just pasta sauce and it’s made with vegetables isn't it?
In their statement, Mars admitted that there's a high level of fat, salt and sugar in some of their products and therefore should only be eaten "occasionally" or once a week at a maximum. Their other famous brands like Uncle Ben's are also not as healthy as we'd like them to be, so they are going under scrutiny. Mars have said that they will be reviewing the levels of fat, sugar and salt but that they probably won’t change their products because they are in keeping with the original famous recipes. So instead they will provide some guidelines on their packaging as to how often their sauces should be consumed.
If this scary stat makes you want to ditch the Dolmio, don't fear! It's so easy to whip up a quick and healthy tomato sauce - all you need is fresh or tinned tomatoes, onions, garlic and some herbs! If you really are part of the "Can't cook, won't cook" brigade then it's always worth just being label savvy at the very least. If a pasta sauce has more than 22.5g of sugar per 100g then be wary - regular consumption could have some negative implications on your health in the long run. The same goes for more than 1.5g of salt and 17.5g of fat per 100g. If you can avoid buying any products that go over these guidelines you’ll be ensuring that you're not doing too much damage to your health and wellbeing.
Remember - pasta sauces are not the devil. When made correctly they are a part of a nutritious and healthy diet. The best thing you can do for your body is to eat a balanced diet and a range of foods, plus doing your best to make healthier choices so that you can feel awesome!
