For many of us, Christmas is the time to let loose and treat ourselves, however some people still want to watch what they eat.
Which supermarket’s Christmas desserts contain the most sugar?
Pitting them against one another, online cake shop Jack and Beyond finally has the answer!
They scoured the nutritional contents of Christmas desserts across the UK’s main supermarkets to reveal the worst sugar offenders:
Christmas puddings
Asda tops the table as the worst sugar offender for Christmas puddings. With a whopping 47g per 100g of sugar, it takes up 60% of your recommended daily intake (RDI) of sugar – 21% more than a can of full sugar coke! Steer clear if you want to avoid a sugar rush on Christmas day!
Tesco claims second worst with 44.6g of sugar per 100g, followed by Morrisons (43g), Waitrose (39.9g), The Co-operative (30g), Sainsbury’s (30g). The Christmas pudding winner of 2020 is M&S with just 27.7g of sugar per 100g.
| Supermarket | Sugar (per 100g) |
| Asda | 47g |
| Tesco | 44.6g |
| Morrisons | 43g |
| Waitrose | 39.9g |
| The Co-operative | 30g |
| Sainsbury’s | 30g |
| M&S | 27.7g |
Gingerbread cookies
Tesco’s gingerbread cookies have the most sugar across all supermarkets. Per 100g, they contain 44.9g of sugar per 100g, followed by SPAR (39.4g), Morrisons (38.2g), Waitrose (32.6g), Asda (30g), and Sainsbury’s has the lowest amount of sugar at 29.5g.
| Supermarket | Sugar (per 100g) |
| Tesco | 44.9g |
| SPAR | 39.4g |
| Morrisons | 38.2g |
| Waitrose | 32.6g |
| Asda | 30g |
| Sainsbury’s | 29.5g |
Mince pies
When it comes to the Christmas favourite mince pies, Morrisons is the worst contender at 34g of sugar per 100g. In second place is Asda (33g), followed by The Co-operative (33g), SPAR (30.5g), Sainsbury’s (28.3g), Waitrose (26.3g) and finally Tesco who manage to win at one with just 25.2g.
| Supermarket | Sugar (per 100g) | |
| 1 | Morrisons | 34g |
| 2 | Asda | 33g |
| 3 | The Co-operative | 33g |
| 4 | SPAR | 30.5g |
| 5 | Sainsbury’s | 28.3g |
| 6 | Waitrose | 26.3 |
| 7 | Tesco | 25.2 |
Panettone
Sainsbury’s paves the way for the sweetest panettone, with 29.4g per 100g – that’s 20% of your RDI. Asda follows in second (28g), with Waitrose (25.1g) and Tesco (24.2g) as the better supermarkets.
| Supermarket | Sugar (per 100g) | |
| 1 | Sainsbury’s | 29.4g |
| 2 | Asda | 28g |
| 3 | Waitrose | 25.1g |
| 4 | Tesco | 24.2g |
Profiteroles
Avoid Waitrose for your profiteroles this year – they contain the most sugar out of all supermarkets with 16.5g per 100g. Choose Morrisons for this delicious dessert as their profiteroles contain only 11.2g per 100g of sugar!
| Supermarket | Sugar (per 100g) | |
| 1 | Waitrose | 16.5g |
| 2 | Asda | 15g |
| 3 | Sainsbury’s | 14.8g |
| 4 | Tesco | 14.8g |
| 5 | Morrisons | 11.2g |
Sticky toffee pudding
Sainsbury’s sticky toffee puddings contain an alarming amount of sugar. In first with almost half the RDI of sugar (47%) per serving, they contain 39.1g per 100g and more sugar than a Krispy Kreme chocolate dreamcake donut! Following is Tesco (37.6g), Morrisons (35.7g), Waitrose (32.1g) and Asda (29g), and The Co-operative wins with a more respectable 28g of sugar per 100g.
| Supermarket | Sugar (per 100g) | |
| 1 | Sainsbury’s | 39.1g |
| 2 | Tesco | 37.6g |
| 3 | Morrisons | 35.7g |
| 4 | Waitrose | 32.1g |
| 5 | Asda | 29g |
| 6 | The Co-operative | 28g |
Stollen
Once again, Waitrose tops the list of sweetest desserts, with 37.8g of sugar per 100g in their stollen slices. Asda follows with 37g, and Morrisons (36.7g), Tesco (34.6g) and Sainsbury’s (28.5g) contain more modest sugar levels.
| Supermarket | Sugar (per 100g) | |
| 1 | Waitrose | 37.8g |
| 2 | Asda | 37g |
| 3 | Morrisons | 36.7g |
| 4 | Tesco | 34.6g |
| 5 | Sainsbury’s | 28.5g |
Trifle
Appearing at the top for the third and highest number of times, Waitrose’s trifles contain the most sugar at 15g per 100g. The Co-operative claims the ‘healthiest’ trifles with just 13g, followed in sugar levels by Morrisons (13.2g), Sainsbury’s (13.3g), Asda (14g), Tesco (14.2g) and SPAR (14.9g).
| Supermarket | Sugar (per 100g) | |
| 1 | Waitrose | 15g |
| 2 | SPAR | 14.9g |
| 3 | Tesco | 14.2g |
| 4 | Asda | 14g |
| 5 | Sainsbury’s | 13.3g |
| 6 | Morrisons | 13.2g |
| 7 | The Co-operative | 13g |
Yule log
To complete the list of Christmas desserts, yule logs with the highest amount of sugar are found in Morrisons – containing 32% of your RDI and a whopping 45.2g of sugar per 100g, almost DOUBLE that of Ben and Jerry’s cookie dough ice cream. M&S follows with the next highest amount (42.7g) and the likes of Waitrose (25.5g), The Co-operative (35g) and Tesco (35.2g) contain much lower levels.
| Supermarket | Sugar (per 100g) | |
| 1 | Morrisons | 45.2g |
| 2 | M&S | 42.7g |
| 3 | Asda | 39g |
| 4 | Sainsbury’s | 35.3g |
| 5 | Tesco | 35.2g |
| 6 | The Co-operative | 35g |
| 7 | Waitrose | 25.5g |