Supermarkets’ smoked salmon packed with sugar

SUPERMARKETS are facing a backlash over smoked salmon “hidden sugar traps” amid concerns shoppers are unaware of additional ingredients going into their breakfasts.

Grocery bosses have been accused of “peddling addictive products” by selling breakfast items which shoppers may view as healthy options but which have sugar included in the recipes.

Lord Bethell, a former health minister, criticised what he called “hidden sugar traps” in products including smoked salmon and orange juice.

The peer, who served in Boris Johnson’s government during the pandemic, said: “British supermarkets need to wake up to the fact they play an integral role in the health of the nation.

“Given the absence of meaningful legislation from the Government to curb the egregious amount of cheap sugar, which is pushed out to the public, supermarkets have, with vested interests, peddled these addictive products.”

Research by found some smoked salmon on sale at supermarkets including Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Asda lists sugar among the ingredients. This is despite one of the biggest smoked salmon producers, H Forman & Son, claiming recipes should not include sugar. Lance Forman,

chief executive of H Forman & Son, said there was “not one good reason” to add sugar to smoked salmon.

“We know what we’re doing and there was never sugar,” Mr Forman said.

He suggested that the reason sugar is being added to smoked salmon could be to mask the taste of extra salt, often used to ensure a longer sell-by date. He said sugar would also help cover the bitterness of the smoking, if producers selling by weight were opting not to trim off the outer crust.

Andrew Opie, director of food & sustainability at the British Retail Consortium, said retailers har led the way in reducing sugar in their products.

“However, sugar is a way of prolonging the shelf-life of products while maintaining the same great taste customers are used to. To help consumers make informed choices, retailers provide clear information on the ingredients and overall nutritional values for their products, using the widely understood traffic light system.”

The NHS recommends that “free” sugar – the kind of sugar that is added to food products before consumption and present in honey, purées and concentrates – should not make up more than 5pc of the calories one person consumes every day.

Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Asda were contacted for comment.