Sausages are not a health food. Due to the link between processed meat, red meat and colorectal cancer, the Cancer Council advises limiting or avoiding processed meats such as sausages, frankfurts, salami, bacon and ham.
Sausages provide high levels of Vitamin B-12 and Iron, both of which are essential for healthy red blood cells and haemoglobin production. On top of this, B-12 helps you metabolise both fats and protein! Each sausage provides around a third of your RDA.
Most sausage products are incredibly high in sodium, and eating a diet high in sodium can do enough damage on your health alone. One study published by JAMA showed how a diet higher in sodium can increase the risk of cardiovascular events and heart disease.
In Australia, fresh sausages are separate to processed meat as our food regulations control nitrate levels and fat content in sausages (ANZ Food Code Standards).
If you want to eat sausage often, however, consider choosing healthier types of sausage, such as those made with chicken or turkey. You can also make your own to get the freshest variety with none of the harmful additives or high-fat meat.
Processed meat is meat that's been preserved by smoking, curing, salting or adding preservatives. This includes: sausages.
Australian consumers have ranked Woolworths No. 1 for pork sausages in 2022, clearly leading the way for overall satisfaction and rating best for taste and freshness.
In Australia, we have regulations that state that at least half of all sausage content must include lean meat flesh. This can come from any part of any animal but is mostly the trimmings (or off-cuts of premium cuts like the rump or blade) of pork, beef or veal.
Fresh or raw sausage: ground meat, fat, and spices that have been mixed but not cured or cooked (the meat is still raw). It's typically sold in casings, but you can also buy fresh sausage meat in patties or just loose like any other ground meat.
They concluded that, in their expert opinion, adults should continue to eat their current level of red and processed meat, roughly three to four times a week.
Overall, bacon is lower in calories and saturated fat and by trimming visible fat you can lower this again, so from a nutritional stand bacon wins.
Sausages can be cooked in numerous ways. In general, boiling and baking are the healthiest methods, as they don't require much oil. However, pan- and stir-frying are good options as long as you choose a healthy oil. Conversely, deep frying is the least healthy way because of the fat and calories it adds.
Fat and saturated fat
Traditional sausages from your local butcher can range from 20-30 per cent fat, although some may make a lower-fat version. The problem with high-fat sausages is that from one-third to half the fat in them is saturated fat, the unhealthy fat many of us are already getting way too much of.
calories. Both chicken and sausage are high in calories. Sausage has 71% more calories than chicken - chicken has 189 calories per 100 grams and sausage has 324 calories. For macronutrient ratios, chicken is much heavier in protein, much lighter in fat and similar to sausage for carbs.
While these ingredients can add small amounts of carbs to the product, sausages are overall a high protein, low carb option. However, sausages are considered processed meats and can be high in saturated fat. As a result, they should be limited in a nutritious, balanced diet.
Our sausages and burger patties are 100% West Australian beef and produced fresh, daily. As a rule it is approximately 12 sausages to a kilo and we recommend around 400 sausages for a Bunnings fundraising sausage sizzle…
Aussie Word of the Week
Aussies have a plethora of names for sausages and the ways and contexts in which we eat them. Snag is perhaps the most famous slang term for sausages, followed closely by banger. Many of us grab a sausage sanga down at the local hardware store.
Kangaroo is a lean meat with less than 2% fat, making it a healthier red meat option. It is also high in protein, essential B vitamins, minerals such as zinc, iron and omega 3 fats and omega 6 fatty acids. Compared to beef, kangaroo contains double the amount of iron and triple that of chicken and pork.
Australian Meat (Beef and Lamb) (73%), Water, Rice Flour, Maize Flour, Potato Starch, Salt, mineral Salts (450,451, 452), Hydrolysed Vegetable Protein (maize), Vegetable Powders (Onion, garlic), Vegetable Powders (Onion, Garlic), Preservative (223), Sugar, Spiced, Spice Extract (Including Paprika Oleoresins), natural ...
INGREDIENTS: ;No Added Hormones Australian Beef (77%), Water, Seasoning [Potato Starch, Salt, Acidity Regulator (451), Dehydrated Vegetables (Onion, Garlic), Preservative (223), Mustard Flour, Herbs and Spices (Sage, Cloves, Ginger, Chilli, Pepper, Nutmeg, Pimento, Caraway, Mace)], Edible Beef Collagen Casing+.
Fat, juicy and oozing with flavour, Andrew's combination of secret herbs and spices and 4-year-old vintage cheddar make this snag a winner. Having been crowned as the best sausage in Australia in 1994, and numerous times since then, Andrew's Cheese Kransky has become legendary.
Any meat that has been cured, smoked, canned or salted is a processed food, and these types of meats, including hot dogs, salami and cured bacon, are associated with increased risk of conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure, and certain cancers such as bowel or stomach.
Examples of ultra-processed foods include ice cream, ham, sausages, crisps, mass-produced bread, breakfast cereals, biscuits, carbonated drinks, fruit-flavoured yogurts, instant soups, and some alcoholic drinks including whisky, gin, and rum.