We analysed this year's most popular Christmas sandwiches. This is the unhealthiest one
The festive sandwich is a staple of the Christmas season. And every year, when the supermarkets and high street coffee chains release their festive menus, Britons eagerly anticipate trying out new fillings and flavour combinations.
There are plenty to choose from, with something for everyone - whether you’re vegetarian, vegan, gluten-free, or happy and able to eat anything at all.
However, this year, Britons have been paying more attention than ever to their health and what they eat - particularly as studies around ultra-processed foods (UPFs) are continuing to reveal the negative impact they can have on our health.
In May, a survey by Savanta that tracks consumer behaviour every quarter found that nearly 50% of shoppers reported they were eating more healthy food compared to last year.
Meanwhile, a survey by YouGov revealed that 64% of Britons who read nutrition labels have reconsidered a food or drink purchase afterwards - this was especially likely among younger people between the ages of 18 to 34.
So while Christmas sandwiches are a major highlight of the year, many Britons will be paying closer attention to their ingredients and nutritional values.
To help you make an informed choice during your festive lunches this year, we’ve examined the Christmas sandwich offerings from every supermarket and high street coffee chain and ranked them according to the number of calories they contain.
Christmas calories: Sarnie edition
After analysing the Christmas sandwiches on offer this year, Yahoo UK found that the festive offering with the highest number of calories on the high street is the LEON Christmas Cracker.
Clocking in at 627 calories per portion, LEON describes their seasonal wrap as a "crackin’ meat-filled feast", which no doubt adds to its total caloric value. The wrap is stuffed with turkey, pork stuffing and bacon, as well as miso and caramelised onion butter, cranberry chutney, LEON’s signature aioli, and salad leaves.
A close second is Marks & Spencer’s Christmas Club sandwich, which contains 622 calories. This sarnie also brings together three types of meat fillings, namely roast chicken breast, pork, onion and sage stuffing and bacon.
It also has seasoned mayonnaise, cranberry chutney, pickled red cabbage, and spinach.
Marks & Spencer’s has yet another festive sandwich that has made it into the top five most caloric Christmas sandwiches this year. The retailer’s Christmas Sando, which features breaded chicken with ginger pickled slaw, gochujang mayonnaise, cranberry chutney and spinach in a brioche-style bread, has 609 calories.
Hot on the heels of the top three most caloric festive sarnies is Waitrose’s Christmas Merry Club’mas Sandwich (601 calories) and Pret’s Brie, Pistachio and Cranberry Baguette (591 calories).
If you’re looking for the sandwiches with the fewest calories, your top five options will be:
Pret Chicken Festive Feast
Waitrose Christmas Turkey, Stuffing and Bacon Sandwich
Tesco Ho-Ho-Hog Wrap
Costa Brie and Cranberry Toastie
Tesco Cracking Currywurst Sub
But, while these sandwiches may be high in calories, it may surprise you to know that some of them are lower in saturated fats compared to the other sandwiches Yahoo UK analysed.
Not-so-festive fats
Saturated fats are fats that are often solid at room temperature, and eating a lot of them can raise your cholesterol and increase your risk of heart disease.
According to Yahoo UK’s analysis, Gregg’s Festive Bake - which, some may argue, is not a sandwich, but Christmas isn’t Christmas without it - ranks at the top of the list for the item with the highest amount of saturated fat.
This is despite the fact the LEON’s Christmas Cracker contains the highest amount of fat (32g) in our analysis. In comparison, Gregg’s Festive bake has 28g of fat. However, LEON’s offering has only 7.5g of saturated fat compared to Gregg’s 14g, making the Festive Bake the highest offender.
A popular choice of fillings for vegetarian sandwich options are brie and cranberry - a classic combination. However, our analysis showed that this combination also tends to have very high amounts of saturated fat.
The Marks & Spencer Brie and Cranberry Sandwich, Pret’s Brie, Pistachio and Cranberry Baguette, and Costa’s Brie and Cranberry Toastie all follow in the footsteps of the Gregg’s Festive Bake in terms of saturated fat.
If you’re looking for a sandwich with less saturated fat, your top five options will be:
Tesco Ho-Ho-Hog Wrap
M&S Christmas Sando
Pret Chicken Festive Feast
Tesco Cracking Currywurst Sub
Waitrose Christmas Turkey, Stuffing and Bacon Sandwich
Watch: I run a Christmas cafe all year round - I never get tired of mince pies
Read more about Christmas:
Five ways to make your Christmas pudding healthier (Yahoo Life UK, 5-min read)
Yoga poses to relieve the post-Christmas bloat (Cover Media, 2-min read)
Why celebrating Christmas is good for your mental health (The Conversation, 5-min read)
