More chicken in a chicken nugget means a better quality product - I don't care how Tesco try to spin it

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Tesco says a higher proportion of a key ingredient does not always mean a higher-quality product - well, I’m no nutritionist but when it comes to chicken nuggets, I really think it does.

We are living in the age of the cut-price shop. Budget chains Aldi and Lidl have swept to supermarket superstardom on the back of offering goods at low, low prices - and are reaping the rewards as households like mine cut their cloth during a cost-of-living crisis.

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As a result, the traditional 'big boys' of groceries - Tesco, Sainsburys, Asda and Morrisons - have all been forced to respond, even labelling products as 'Aldi price match' and such, showing shoppers they might not get stuff cheaper down the road. However, anyone who thought the smaller price tag at Lidl and Aldi might mean compromising on the quality could be surprised to learn a new investigation shows quite the opposite is often true.

BBC Panorama tested dozens of Tesco products price-matched to Aldi - including staples like chicken nuggets, cottage pie and blackcurrant squash - to find out if the budget chains indeed used budget ingredients. And the results showed that far from being shown up as an inferior product, the amount of key ingredients in brands from Germany-based Aldi often eclipsed those found in Tesco goods.

Tesco has been found to be putting less chicken in the chicken nuggets they price match against AldiTesco has been found to be putting less chicken in the chicken nuggets they price match against Aldi
Tesco has been found to be putting less chicken in the chicken nuggets they price match against Aldi | PA / Getty Images

For example, in the case of chicken nuggets, the Tesco product contained 39% chicken, compared with 60% in the Aldi one. All those parents who feared they were putting a lesser-product in front of their children at the dinner table may, in fact, have been making the healthier choice by opting for the cheaper option (or at least price-matched).

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Of a total of 122 Tesco products, the Panorama research found 38 - nearly a third - had at least five percentage points less of the main ingredient than the Aldi products they were matched to, while only 12 Tesco products were found to have more. So, while our instinct might tell us we should opt for the likes of Tesco in the belief they will be of a higher quality, the opposite is often true.

When those glitzy Tesco ads proclaim 'every little helps', we didn't think they meant cutting core ingredients to help their own bottom line... Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and ASDA offer similar ranges, but Panorama found no clear evidence of a pattern of consistent differences in the proportions of main ingredients in their goods compared with the Aldi versions.

Of course, Tesco has responded to the findings, saying a higher proportion of key ingredients does not always mean a higher-quality product, and that may well be true, but it seems pretty clear in some cases - though I'm no nutritionist - but a chicken nugget that contains more chicken is certainly the superior product in my eyes.

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Tesco also said it "constantly reviews" the quality of products. Well, so do we, the consumer, particularly in hard times. Research like this is just one more reason for shoppers like me to turn away from the traditional stores and give the likes of Aldi a try. Every little may help, but the likes of Tesco may find that every little can also hinder...

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