Ask the Nutritionist : About our Food : Food & Wine : Marks & Spencer

There is lots of nutrition and healthy eating information available but sometimes we all need some extra guidance to help us make healthy choices to suit our individual needs.

That's why we have introduced a new service, where you can e-mail us any nutrition related questions that you have and our nutritionist will respond.

Email us at nutrition@marks-and-spencer.com or simply click the link below.

Q. Why is eating too much saturated fat bad for my health?

A.Eating too much saturated can increase your risk of developing coronary heart disease by raising the bad ‘LDL’ blood cholesterol in your blood. This results in the build up of fatty deposits in arteries which increases your risk of heart attacks.

High levels of saturated fat is found in fatty meat, cream, lard, full fat dairy products such as cheese, butter and yogurt-as well as in cakes and pastries.
To help reduce the amount of saturated fat you eat you try to:

Choose lean cuts of meat, trim off any visible fat, drain the fat from cooked mince and make sure you remove the skin off chicken

Grill, bake, poach or steam rather than frying or roasting so you don't need to add any extra fat

Eat more fish, especially oily fish, as an alternative to meat

Choose low fat spreads instead of butter

Use half fat, reduced fat and low fat dairy products such as semi skimmed milk and low fat yogurts

Choose half fat cheese or extra mature cheese, this means you can use a smaller amount for the same amount of flavour

Use fromage frais or low fat natural yogurt in recipes instead of cream, soured cream and crème fraiche

Choose foods which are labelled amber and green for saturated fat

Eat high fat foods such as pastries and pies very occasionally or as a treat

To find our more about saturated fat click here

Q. How can I eat healthily on a budget?

A. Maintaining a healthy diet needn't be expensive, items such as frozen and canned vegetables and fruit have a longer shelf life, tend to be cheaper and still count towards your recommended five a day like fresh fruits and vegetables. If you do choose tinned fruit or vegetables make sure they don’t have added salt and are in juice rather than syrup.

You could also try to provide a larger proportion of your meals to vegetables and starchy carbohydrates, such as potatoes, pasta or rice, and a smaller proportion to protein foods such as meat, which tend to be more expensive.

For more information on eating a healthy diet click here

Q. I am intolerant to gluten how can I find out which M&S products are suitable for my diet?

A.We provide a list of our products which do not contain gluten. It is updated on a monthly basis and available in store, from customer services or can be downloaded from our website by clicking here.

Q. I have just brought a Croissant from the M&S in store bakery, how can I find out how many calories it has in it?

A. The full nutrition breakdown is available from our website, from our nutritionist or from our customer services team in stores, who will be able to provide nutrition information for our in store bakery products and most of our café products.

Q. I am allergic to nuts and soya and I am also intolerant to dairy products, at the moment I am referring to three product lists- is there a way to combine them and make my shopping easier?

A. Yes, we can combine up to six free from lists at a time. Please email our Nutritionist or contact customer services who can create a personalised free from list for you.

Q. I have seen the Food Standards Agency TV advert on salt and wondered what Marks and Spencer are doing to reduce the salt in their foods?

A. Salt reduction isn’t new to M&S and we’ve been working to reduce the salt in our foods since 1998. In fact, reducing salt has become a key part in the development of all our foods, without compromising the quality, safety or taste. Over the past 2 years we have removed over 350 tonnes of salt from our foods.

We already achieved many of the Food Standards Agency 2010 salt targets three years ahead of time, including products that previously were regarded as having a high salt content, for example, ready meals, sandwiches, breakfast cereals, past sauces.

There are a number of foods, including ready meals, which we know contribute a significant proportion of salt to the diet, and for these categories we are planning to go beyond the FSA salt targets and meet them as a maximum rather than an average across the range.

Q. Why is salt bad for your health?

A. Salt is made up of sodium and chloride and it is the sodium in salt that is bad for health. Eating too much salt can raise your blood pressure and people with high blood pressure are three times more likely to suffer from heart disease or a stroke. Reducing your salt intake can help to lower blood pressure and when your blood pressure goes down, your risk of developing heart disease or a stroke is also lowered.

The maximum recommended daily intake of salt a day for adults is 6g (about a teaspoon!). The majority of this salt in your diet is already in the foods that you buy. Most people in the UK are eating too much salt.

Q. I regularly buy ready meals from M&S, how do I check the amount of salt in the food?

We provide both the sodium and salt content (“salt equivalent”) within the nutrition panel on the back of packs. We provide this information per 100g and per serving. In addition, the percentage of the Guideline Daily Amount (6g) is also shown to help you see how much of your daily salt intake a serving of the food provides. By comparing products you can find the lower salt option within a range.

All our Count on Us and Eat Well prepared meals meet the Food Standards Agency salt target and in most cases offer the lower salt option.

We have also introduced front of pack colour coded labelling to provide ‘at a glance’ nutrition labelling. Ready meals that are colour coded ‘amber’ and ‘green’ are the lower salt options and for a healthier diet should be the options that you choose most often. Our front of pack labelling also provides information on the % contribution to the Guideline Daily Amounts.