Unhealthiest high street sandwiches revealed – and the healthy swaps to help you shed pounds

Scottish Sun

18-05-2025

BRITAIN'S most unhealthy high street sandwiches have now been revealed.
Brits will be shocked to know that most of their favourite lunchtime meal deals have more saturated fat and sugar than fast food and desserts.
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Pret's Posh Cheddar & Pickle Baguette sandwich contains a whopping 643 calories
Credit: Gary Stone
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Sainsbury's Brie Bacon & Chilli Chutney Sandwich has more sugar than two Kit Kat bars
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A double McDonald's cheeseburger has less calories and suger than the two sandwiches
Credit: Supplied
Most of them also have more calories than McDonald's cheeseburgers and a bar of DairyMilk chocolate.
Leading the list of unhealthy sandwiches, Pret's Posh Cheddar & Pickle Baguette sandwich contains a whopping 643 calories.
That is more calories than two McDonald's cheeseburgers combined, which come at 295 calories each.
Even a Big Mac has almost 150 fewer calories than Pret's flagship lunchtime meal.
Meanewhile, Waitrose's No1 The Perfect Ploughman's Cornish Cheddar Sandwich comes 13.1g of saturated fat - making it one of the unhealthiest items on the list.
This is again more than two McDonald's Cheeseburgers combined, which come with just 5.4g of fat each, according to a DailyMail analysis.
Next comes M&S's Farmhouse Cheddar Cheese Ploughman's sandwich with 11.3g of saturated fat.
To give some context, a Big Mac burger has just 8.8g of fat.
Both these sandwiches contain more than half of the NHS's daily saturated fat limit for women, which is 20g.
When it came to unhealthy sugar content, Sainsbury's Brie Bacon & Chilli Chutney Sandwich topped the charts with 19.7g sugar.
SARNIE WARS I spent £80 on every Tesco meal deal sandwich to find my favourite... there were 2 winners but it's divided opinion
To put that into perspective, one would need to have two KitKat chocolate bars with 10.3g of sugar in each to beat the Sainsbury's sandwich.
M&S's All Day Breakfast Sandwich - a popular choice of meal on the go - has almost 10.1g of sugar.
That's slightly less than a Krispy Kreme Original Glazed Doughnut that comes with 12g of sugar.
NHS recommends that adults only consume a maximum of 30g of sugar each day to lead a healthy life.
Most of the sandwiches sold on Britain's high streets are also far saltier than fast food.
For instance, Pret's Ham & Grevé Baguette contained 3.85g of salt, making it saltier than four large portions of McDonald's fries (0.82g of salt each).
And surprisingly, even M&S's Farmhouse Cheddar Cheese Ploughman contained 1.78g - slightly more than two large McDonald's fries.
Adults are advised to consume less than 6g of salt per day, according to the NHS.
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M&S's Farmhouse Cheddar Cheese Ploughman's sandwich comes with 11.3g of saturated fat
Credit: Marks And Spencer
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Waitrose's No1 The Perfect Ploughman's Cornish Cheddar Sandwich comes 13.1g of saturated fat
Credit: Waitrose
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An unhealthy McDonald's meal
Credit: Getty
But as most of the supermarket sandwiches are unhealthy options for lunch, Brits can choose to swap them for healthier meals.
For example, a Cheese Ploughman's sandwich from Boots comes at just 429 calories, making it the healthiest option so far.
And if you feel fancy, you can also try Itsu's King Prawn Rice Box salad, which comes at just 407 calories.
It's a filling option thanks to wholegrain brown rice, veggies, prawns and seeds.
Meanwhile, a Tuna Melt Panini from Starbucks packs in an impressive 28g of protein and has just 443 calories.
But if you are really conscious about your health and want to keep things below 400 calories, then Greggs' Pesto and Mozzarella Pasta can be your saviour.
This tasty option from Greggs is just 375 calories, even though its packed with cheese.
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Itsu's King Prawn Rice Box salad is a filling option thanks to wholegrain brown rice, veggies, prawns and seeds
Credit: Itsu