IT’S FREE AND FAIR

Taste is a subjective thing, but when you gather a group of Food and Beverage students from the University of Johannesburg and ask them to blind-taste a range of food items from the four big retail supermarkets, you have a fair way of assessing quality. We presented the students with samples of the items and they were asked to judge them on appearance, taste, amount of protein to vegetables, quality of the sauce and whether they would buy them. Auditor Jade Craig observed the chefs in the kitchen — we used the facilities at HTA Cooking Academy in Randburg under the guidance of Chef Kabelo Segone — who prepared the food exactly to the package instructions. Craig then observed the tasting and tallied the scores. (samples unavailable from Checkers and Woolworths)