Veggie and vegan burgers often have too much salt and fat

Vegetarian and vegan burgers often contain too much salt or saturated fat, the consumer watchdog Consumentenbond said on Monday.

Researchers bought 75 different vegan and vegetarian burgers from eight different supermarket chains, including own brand and A label products.

Two-thirds of the burgers tested contained too much in the way of unhealthy ingredients, even though on the whole they are better for you than meat products, the Consumentenbond said.

They are also more sustainable in terms of animal welfare and impact on the climate, director Sandra Molenaar said. ‘Now they need to cut back on salt to make them even more healthy when compared with meat,’ she said. ‘It is up to the manufacturers to get cracking.’

The Consumentenbond also analysed the 27 burgers deemed to be healthy for protein, iron and vitamin B12 content, which are essential to help vegans offset the impact of not eating meat. Only a handful met the requirements, the organisation said.

‘The results of our panel of over 2,000 consumers show that vegetarians and vegans consider these supplements to be important, so manufacturers have a world to win here as well,’ Molenaar said.