Saturated fat - tips for cutting down

Shopping tips

• Choose low and lower-fat varieties of dairy foods such as semi-skimmed, 1% fat milk or skimmed milk, low-fat yoghurts and lower-fat cheeses.
• Look at the label when choosing cheese as different varieties of cheese can have different saturated fat levels. Soft cheese tends to have less than hard cheese.
• Check the label when buying meat as there can be big variances between the types of meat, cut of meat and how it has been prepared.
• The more white you can see on meat, the more fat it contains. So, for example, back bacon has less than half the saturated fat of streaky bacon.
  • Go for turkey and chicken without the skin
  • Go for leaner varieties of mince – the saturated fat content can vary widely
  • Look out for coatings and sauces which may increase the saturated fat levels
• Have pies with only one crust rather than two – either a lid or a base – because pastry is very high in saturated fat.
• Choosing a fat spread with lower total fat per 100g generally means that the saturated fat content per 100g will be lower.
• Go for polyunsaturated or mono-unsaturated spreads where possible and not dairy based spreads.
• If you are going to have crisps – check the label and choose those with the lower saturated fat – as there is often a big difference between brands. Crisps and savoury snacks cooked in sunflower or rapeseed oils tend to be lower in saturated fat than those cooked in unspecified vegetable oils.
• Go easy on 'sharer' or 'grab' bags of sweet and savoury snacks as portion sizes are harder to estimate.
• Compare the labels on foods like biscuits and cakes to make sure they’re lower in saturated fat.

Cooking tips

• If you're using cheese to flavour a dish or a sauce, you could try using a very strong-tasting cheese, such as mature Cheddar, as you'll need less. Also look out for some of the great tasting reduced fat versions that are available
• Cut any visible fat and skin off meat before cooking
• Grill meat rather than frying
• Use unsaturated oils such as olive, sunflower or rapeseed oils instead of butter, lard and ghee in cooking
• Make mashed potato with olive oil and garlic instead of butter and milk
• Make mashed potato with low fat spread and semi-skimmed milk

Habit tips

• Try having smaller portions of cheese or eating it less often
• Grate your cheese – you’ll eat less
• Try to limit the amount of buns, cakes, pastries, pies and biscuits you eat
• Try to limit the amount of sausages, salami, pâté and beef burgers you eat, as these are generally high in saturated fat and often high in salt too.
• Remember that meat products in pastry, such as pies and sausage rolls, are high in saturated fat, as they may contain fatty cuts of meat and the fat in pastry
• If you are going to have something ‘sweet’, instead of cakes or biscuits, try having a currant bun, scone or some malt loaf, plain or with lower fat or reduced fat spread
• Snack foods can be high in saturated fat and salt and should only be seen as a treat
• We can enjoy chocolate treats every now and again, but think about how often and how much you eat of them instead of getting into a habit of eating them every day

Swapping tips

• Swap red meat for fish or turkey/chicken without the skin on
• Swap creamy or cheesy sauces for tomato or vegetable based sauces
• Swap butter for vegetable oil based spread
• Swap a large whole milk coffee for a regular ‘skinny'