As concern grows over ultra-processed foods, shoppers are looking for healthy swaps. So for our health Issue we’ve used advice from dieticians to compile a shopping list including dark chocolate, plain yoghurt, salted crisps, sourdough bread and Shredded Wheat (among others).
Going UPF-free isn’t easy. Or cheap. A 400g sourdough white loaf costs easily four times as much as a sliced, ultra-processed 800g white plant bread loaf per gram. And the cheapest for the sourdough was Waitrose.
But overall Asda was cheapest (and offered the lowest price for the first time in three weeks in our price comparison competition). Its £86.10 total was £2.56 (2.9%) cheaper than Tesco, with Sainsbury’s next on £90.02 (4.3%), followed by Morrisons at £90.81 (5.2%) and Waitrose in last place at £98.63 (12.7%).
Asda featured 10 exclusively cheapest items, including the Lurpak butter, mixed nuts and frozen strawberries. It was also cheapest for Bassetts multivitamins, but shoppers with more upfront cash would do best at Morrisons, where a three for two would make buying three months’ worth cheapest.
Overall, however, bulk-buyers would have been best off at Sainsbury’s. Asda was £3.92 cheaper than Sainsbury’s £90.02 total, but factoring in multibuys and loyalty prices for Nectar card users, on a pro-rated basis, its total would be £84.25, pipping Asda’s £84.33.
Apart from the sourdough loaf and cheddar, Waitrose was uncompetitive on price. It was furthest from Asda on Fruit and veg – its spinach, green beans, mango, and pomegranate were double Asda’s prices.
Overall inflation was down 0.2% versus last month. But it was up 4.8% year on year, with big price hikes on the Green & Black’s dark chocolate (+38%), Lavazza coffee (+32%) and Lurpak butter (+44%).
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