At lower cost and accessible for all budgets, are the entry-level products of the benchmark brands as good to eat as the branded products?
To preserve your budget, landmark brands seem like the most obvious choice, but what about your health? As inflation paces the country, the magazine What to choose looked last November at these economical products, to find out if they were less good for your health than branded products. To do this, the media carried out a comparative study of 12 food categories such as frozen pizzas, mayonnaise, jams or cookies. Two criteria are then taken into account: the first being the Nutri-Score which indicates the amount of sugar, salt, fibre, etc and the second being undesirable industrial ingredients like additives.
Result: the landmark brand products are no less good than those of the major brands. “In two-thirds of the food families assessed, at least one entry-level item has a no less recommendable recipe“. The magazine also gives as an example the Lidl lasagna which is “scrupulously identical to those of Marie. No wonder they come from the same factory!“. Good news for those who like to eat well and at a low price. On the other hand, the only criterion that was not taken into account in this study is taste, which is too subjective to take into account.
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Benchmark brands sometimes better than the big brands
Other products offered by the reference brands would also be better than those of the brands. Another example was given by the magazine, that of the Lidl brioche, priced at 2.90 euros, which obtains a better result than its competitor from the Harris brand, displayed on the shelves at 4.23 euros. However, if these foods are less expensive and fit into the shopping budget, none have an organic label or “without pesticide residue”. We must therefore remain vigilant about what we consume.
It is also recommended to eat raw products such as seasonal fruits and vegetables so as not to have any surprises at the checkout, just like on the plate. Indeed, seasonal foodstuffs are easier to grow and therefore require less water, pesticides and transport. What reconcile budget, health and environment.