How much filling is in your mince pie? We reveal the best and worst from Asda, Tesco, Greggs and more
CHRISTMAS shoppers who can’t stand a half-filled mince pie will want to head down to Asda this Christmas.
A new investigation by The Sun has named the budget retailer as best for packing out the festive pastries, beating more expensive supermarkets and baked goods giant Greggs.
We found Asda mince pies contained roughly 39 per cent mince meat – 17 per cent more than the worst offenders.
They were also the second cheapest we tested, at 25p per mince pie.
Greggs and Sainsbury’s came joint-bottom in our investigation, with the worst mince pies from each pack containing only 22 per cent mince meat.
The Greggs mince pies cost roughly 29p each, while Sainsbury's works out at 33p per mince pie - almost 10p more than Asda.
For our test, we bought packs of six mince pies from Greggs and nine major supermarkets - including Aldi, Asda, Co-Op, Lidl, M&S, Morrisons, Sainsbury's, Tesco and Waitrose.
We weighed each mince pie, then cut the top off, scooped out the filling and weighed it separately to work out the mince meat-to-pastry ratio.
Surprisingly, the level of filling per mince pie varied massively with some supermarkets - despite being in the same pack.
For example, the Sainsbury's mince pies fluctuated between 22 and 37 per cent, while the Greggs mince pies were between 22 and 27 per cent filled.
Asda's mince pies were the most consistent in our test, varying between 39 and 41 per cent filled.
The cheapest pack we looked at was from Mr Kipling, costing 16p per mince pie and coming seventh in our results with filling of between 27 and 28 per cent.
Waitrose and M&S were the most expensive, costing 41p per mince pie and containing between 26 and 31 per cent, and 32 and 35 per cent mince meat respectively.
Our results echo similar complaints on Twitter, where users have shared their disappointment over airy mince pies.
One Sainsbury's shopper said: "The real problem that's facing us all this season is how a Sainsbury's 'deep filled' mince pie is only half full!"
While a Tesco customer tweeted: "Think the pastry to mincemeat ratio is quite off - more filling required.
"That being said it was nice in size, not too much."
A Waitrose shopper said: "Mind the gap Waitrose. Disappointed with the large cavern between the filling and top.
"But, flavours were excellent, had a bit of kick. Needs more filling!"
Martyn James, consumer expert at Resolver, said: "Nothing dampens the Christmas spirit more than a stingy mince pie - so retailers be warned!
"We Brits will remember if you’ve conned us on our favourite festive treats. Mess with the mince pie at your peril."
Waitrose told us that at mixing bowl stage, their No.1 All Butter Mince Pies contain 47 per cent mincemeat which contains apricot, glacé cherries, almonds and brandy.
M&S said: "Our Collection Mince Pies won this years independently tested Which? Award for the best mince pies on the high street.
"Our customers love the delicious all-butter shortcrust pastry and rich mincemeat."
While Morrisons said it has "worked hard" to get the pastry-to-mince meat ratio "just right" for customers.
A spokesperson said: "Our award winning The Best mince pies have won numerous taste tests this year including BBC Good Food."
Premier Foods, owner of Mr Kipling, said: "Mr Kipling is the UK's leading branded mince pie, with a pastry-to-filling ratio clearly labelled on pack, that tastes great with every bite."
Our winner Asda said it's been working with chefs since 2016 to remove any gap in their mince pies.
We've yet to hear back from Greggs, Sainsbury's, Aldi, Co-Op, Tesco and Lidl.
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