Sprouts supermarket in Walthamstow is currently in the midst of a three-month trial for a new salad bar, with the idea being that the healthier and more filling the dressing, the more people will eat the salad.
The idea has been supported by the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (LSHTM), who have been testing out a new type of salad bar with the intention of improving its nutritional content and reducing its calorie count.
“We’re hoping to reduce the number of calories that people consume by as much as 25 per cent,” says Joanna Macdonald, senior research associate in the Department of Health, Food and Nutrition, in Warton.
“This is a trial that’s being run in the city centre in Wattleborough, and the main challenge is making sure it’s safe for people to eat.”
The new salad bars, which feature lettuce, sprout, and tomatoes in a mix of sweet and savoury, will have a low-calorie mix of olive oil and olive oil, and a blend of almonds, cashews, and cashew butter, with a little extra crunch from almonds and hazelnuts.
“There are lots of people who think lettuce is a bad choice,” Macdonald says.
“It’s a really healthy choice, but it’s also a lot of calories, and we want to make sure it has enough nutrition to meet people’s needs.”
Sprouts has a lot more than just lettuce, so there are all these other things we can add to the mix.
We’ve got lots of nuts, we’ve got plenty of seeds, we can have nuts and cashews and almonds and other things, but the main thing is that we want the salad to be a lot lower in calories than what they currently have.
“The salad bar will also be gluten-free and free of artificial flavours and colours.”
If we had a lettuce salad, and you wanted to add the dressing to it, we’d say it would be a salad that’s low in calories, low in carbs, low on sugar, and probably more than 100 calories,” MacDonald says.”
You don’t need any extra ingredients, so you’re getting the same level of nutrition.
“The salads will also feature the freshest and highest quality produce.
The salads have been tested in two cities in London and Walthampstead, and have been sold in a range of stores in Wenchford, Walthham, and Brighton, where they are currently sold out.
“
We are testing the new salads and the salad bar in Brighton, and then moving to a new site at a later date,” Mac Donald says.