Does your vegan Christmas meal do you any good?

...and can you really stomach soya turkey and pigs in blankets made with coconut milk?

THE vegan bug bit last year, with thousands of Britons turning to plant-based diets in a bid to save the environment, shed a few pounds and feel generally healthier. And 12 months on, it shows no signs of abating.

According to a random sample of 2,000 Britons, one in four of us is planning a fully vegan Christmas dinner this week.

It’s not just a millennial fad: half of baby boomers will have at least one vegan dish on the Christmas table.

And they’ll be spoilt for choice, with supermarkets pulling out the stops, offering all sorts of weird and wonderful veggie alternatives – including ‘turkey’ joints fashioned out of soya beans and ‘veganettone’ made from shea butter. Vegan substitutes are supposedly lower in calories, fat and sugar than the meaty counter-parts – ideal considering we are told being overweight makes us more vulnerable to severe Covid.

But will pigs in blankets made from coconut milk, powdered peas and a host of additives really lighten your Christmas load? And, more to the point, do they taste good?

We road-tested a range of vegan Christmas treats that the high street has to offer.

Are they as healthy as you might think and worth swapping in, or should you stick to the traditional version?