UPFs - sandwiches

[Butterflypuzzle]

Hi, inspired by the UPF thread I hoped you wise people might be able to answer a question I have been struggling with. I believe processed meats like bacon, sausage, salami are now recognised to be bad for you and potentially carcinogenic. My question is what about the prepackaged sliced ham and chicken you get in supermarkets for sandwiches?

My DC love a ham sandwich and eat a lot of this. I started to buy chicken instead but is it any better? What if it’s the ‘extra special’ / ‘exceptional’ (Asda) chicken breast slices that actually look like chicken?

Are any of these things safe to eat? Should I be avoiding them for my DC?

when I try and google these products never seem to be covered by the answers.

Thank you!

Very few pre cooked meats contain simple ingredients without the added preservatives and unnecessary ingredients unfortunately. I’ve found the only pre cooked chicken with only chicken as the ingredients are M&S which are annoyingly much pricer. I’ve been cooking a chicken on a Sunday night and using it in sandwiches/meals. Works out a lot cheaper and at least I know what’s in it!

You can download the app Open Food Facts. Then just put in your products and it will tell you whether it has any ultra processed markers. The Asda chicken breast slices have six UPF markers.

I have four sporty and permanently hungry teenagers at home and so we get through a lot of sandwich ingredients. I found the easiest workaround is to roast a whole chicken or two, strip the meat and put it in a large tub in the fridge. Alternatively, Waitrose does roasted plain chicken breasts and I’m sure Sainsbury’s does the same. However, these work out very expensive when my kids descend on them like locusts.

If your kids are getting older, in the longer term you might want to think about non-meat alternatives for sandwiches. Mine are into cheese, soft cheese, peanut butter, Hummus, mashed white beans or kidney beans with crème fraîche and Harissa, tuna mayo etc. We stopped eating meat during the week about a year ago and they’re all getting much better at thinking about non-meat alternatives in all of their meals. However, we all enjoy good quality red and white meat at the weekends and even the odd sausage.

It’s much cheaper to buy a joint or chicken and cook it and slice and freeze.

I buy the ‘naked ham ‘ by Finn Brogue none of the carcinogenic nasties.

Thank you so much all this is really helpful. I have not heard of naked ham before but will definitely be looking for that. I will also try cooking a joint and slicing up but I am not convinced I’ll stick to do that regularly, as I am one if the people who never gets bedtimes and jobs done and sits down until 10pm as it is!

Also that app is really helpful, and the suggestions for non ham sandwiches.