Canned peas and bread for sandwiches, mayonnaise and rusks: the sugar it’s everywhere and especially in low-cost private label products (and those where we don’t expect it).
This is according to Foodwatch, which recently conducted a survey of over 400 food products in 12 different categories, sold in the five main French supermarkets: Auchan, Carrefour, Coopérative U, E. Leclerc and Intermarché.
The vast majority of cheaper products are much sweeter than more expensive ones, and private label products are the first to be affected – explains Foodwatch. A two-speed market that allows only those who have the means to access healthier products.
The Foodwatch investigation
Foodwatch examined 12 consumer food categories (rusks, crackers, canned peas, sandwich bread, pesto, etc.) and more than 400 product references sold in the 5 main French supermarket chains, all brands combined, for compare the amount of sugar based on the price.
And he discovered:
Too much added sugar
THE’85% of the products analyzed contain added sugars, all categories combined. And it’s not about sweets, biscuits or drinks, or not only that, but about products in which we not only don’t expect to find added sugars, but where we simply shouldn’t find any.
Here is the list of the most sugary:
The cheaper it is, the sweeter it is – The more expensive it is, the less sweet it is
According to analyses, on average the sweetest are found among the cheapest products. On the contrary, more expensive products contain less sugar on average.
For example, the 5 least expensive pea preserves contain on average 43% more sugar than the 5 most expensive ones. Similarly, the 5 least expensive packages of mayonnaise have an average of 417% higher sugar content than the 5 most expensive ones.
The Foodwatch investigation focused on these 5 products:

Large-scale retail trade brands
The 99% of the cheapest products in the survey are private label products (with the exception of Old El Paso guacamole).
However, the 5 main French supermarkets – Auchan, Carrefour, E. Leclerc, Coopérative U and Intermarché – have a double responsibility in food departments. On the one hand, as manufacturers of their private label products, they are responsible for the composition and quality of these products in which too much sugar is found. On the other hand, as distributors, they decide the price of the products for sale on the shelves.
In recent years, private labels have focused on low prices as a central element of their communication campaigns – for example, “Low prices, more trust” (Carrefour), and these messages position them as allies of our purchasing power. But at what price? At the expense of consumer health?
In supermarkets, the cheaper choice should never mean a less healthy choice. Don’t you think so?