Spilling the value beans! (Tesco Value Baked Beans)

Member Name: nazc1

Product:	Tesco Value Baked Beans
Date:	03/08/09 (57 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: 29p a can, bargain!

Disadvantages: High salt levels 21% of your GDA

I'm sure we've all had those shops before pay day where you've got the calculator out whilst going round the supermarket! It was probably one of those trips that first made me pick up the value branded bean at Tesco rather than the king of the beans, Heinz!

Although the price has risen you can currently buy a 420g tin for 29p. The label is a little different from the one pictured above and fits in with the value brand by being white in background with red writing and having pictures of beans on the front.
This is an old fashioned style can which you have to use a tin opener to get in to compared to some of the more up market brands that have the easier ring pull opening (to keep the cost down I suspect)
There is usually around a 2 year expiry date on the tin

On tipping the beans into a bowl I do notice that there seems to be more 'sauce' than with other brands and it is a little watery. You can use the hob to warm them up or microwave them in between 2-4minutes depending on the power of your microwave, or of course you can always eat them cold out of the tin if you really want to!

Of course there is a difference in taste compared to other brands, they are slightly sugary and despite all the 'sauce' at times I have found the beans themselves a little dry. I would say that if you were serving them aswell as something else, e.g. with mash, burgers etc then you'd be ok but I really notice the difference if I have them just with some toast.

The other difference is with the nutritional value. I will list the values below for 1/2 tin (210g)

105 Calories - 5% GDA
8.6g sugar - 10% GDA
0.6g fat - 1% GDA
0.2g saturates - 1% GDA
1.3g salt - 21% GDA

If you compare this to the healthy option brand tesco also manufacture , calorie and fat levels are slightly lower in the value beans but sugar and especially salt is far higher (7.5g sugar and only 0.8g salt in the healthy option beans)
To follow the old playground song, 'beans, beans, they're good for the heart' well maybe this brand isn't quite so good but as we only tend to have beans maybe once a week then I can live with this. However I always give my 2 1/2 year old daughter the healthy option beans as I do worry about the salt intake for her.

In summary obviously if you pay more you're likely to get a better quality bean but in the economic climate we live in our household will be sticking with value (except my daughter!) Would have awarded 5 stars if salt levels were lower.

Summary: Get what you pay for but suprisingly ok taste!