How Britain fell out of love with pasta sauce

Morning Glory

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Do you use ready made pasta sauces? It seems that, in the UK, sales of these sauces have fallen. According to a report from trade journal the Grocer, sales of cooking sauces fell by £30m in 2016 – 3.7% in value – the sixth consecutive year of decline. The magazine attributes this to the 'health agenda' - to warnings such as the one issued last April by Mars Foods, owner of the Dolmio and Uncle Ben’s brands, that the high salt and sugar levels in some products mean they should only be eaten occasionally.

I have to agree with Felicity Cloake of the Guardian, who writes:
Making tomato sauce from scratch is laughably simple: gently fry a finely chopped onion and a couple of cloves of garlic, with a pinch of herbs if you like, in a couple of tablespoons of olive oil until soft and golden, then add two tins of chopped tomatoes. Bring to a simmer, then turn the heat down and leave it to bubble away for 15-20 minutes until slightly thickened. Add a dash of wine vinegar and a pinch of sugar if you feel it needs it, season and it’s ready. Sauce from the source, at a total cost of about 88p for four servings – and not a health warning in sight. Tasty.
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeand...how-britain-fell-out-of-love-with-pasta-sauce

What do you think? Do you make your own pasta sauces?
 
We have canned tomato sauce here. Not to be confused with pasta sauces.
I used to make my own spaghetti sauce but since we don't have it very often and it is about half the price to buy ready made spaghetti sauce than make it I don't anymore.

Though once I made homemade spaghetti sauce that made the entire neighborhood hungry for spaghetti.
It was too spicy to eat.
Rookie mistake seasoned to taste then simmered.

Oh I would be curious have pasta sales fallen too?
 
We have canned tomato sauce here. Not to be confused with pasta sauces.
I used to make my own spaghetti sauce but since we don't have it very often and it is about half the price to buy ready made spaghetti sauce than make it I don't anymore.

Though once I made homemade spaghetti sauce that made the entire neighborhood hungry for spaghetti.
It was too spicy to eat.
Rookie mistake seasoned to taste then simmered.

Oh I would be curious have pasta sales fallen too?

What is the difference between your canned tomato sauce and that sold in jars?

I don't know if pasta sales have fallen...
 
Canned tomato sauce is just tomatoes no seasonings. It is in small tins. Pasta sauces are in either jars or tins depending on the brand. Now all white pasta sauces are sold in jars.
And macaroni and cheese is sold in either boxes or tins. The boxes you have to cook, the tins you just heat up.
 
Canned tomato sauce is just tomatoes no seasonings. It is in small tins. Pasta sauces are in either jars or tins depending on the brand. Now all white pasta sauces are sold in jars.
And macaroni and cheese is sold in either boxes or tins. The boxes you have to cook, the tins you just heat up.

What is the difference between what you call canned tomato sauce and canned tomatoes (which are on sale here very cheaply)? Are we talking of the same thing? This tin is simply chopped tomatoes - 37p (approx $ .46)

IDShot_225x225.jpg
 
We also have passata which is more concentrated tomato (pureed). That might be closer to what you refer to. It tends to come in cartons for some reason. About the same price.
IDShot_225x225-9.jpg
 
Nope.
We have diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, whole stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce (which is pureed tomatoes and tomato paste. (Pureed tomatoes with most of the liquid removed).

That looks like our tomato soup but it could be what we call sauce.

But then you consider in food terms, what I call gravy and what Shermie calls gravy are two different things. His is tomato based and mine is milk based.
Why recipes and pictures are helpful.
 
We use those - they are just skinned tomatoes chopped into chunks in juice for cooking anything that uses tomatoes really
I think @Cinisajoy meant the US canned tomato sauce looks like our passata not the chopped tomatoes. But anyway:

Here is a picture of canned tomato sauce from Walmart's. It looks like Passata - but on closer inspection the label reveals it is not just tomatoes (like our Passata) but has other additives: Salt, dehydrated onions, dehydrated garlic, spices, natural flavourings, sweet bell pepper. So, in effect this is a ready-made sauce not simply tomatoes.

Contents of Passata: Sieved Tomatoes (that is all).

:
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906746a2-2f33-455f-8036-fbd92fb2e8fe_1.fe2283b6e4551fed9ca2c27f35760a4a.jpeg
 
What is the difference between that and the tomato paste we get in tubes [like toothpaste] or is that just a little more concentrated ?
 
What is the difference between that and the tomato paste we get in tubes [like toothpaste] or is that just a little more concentrated ?
The tube stuff is more concentrated. Passata comes out of the pack like thick tomato soup. I use it on home-made pizza. :hungry:
 
Thanks. I was under the impression that because it was by the tomatoes and not with the flavored pasta sauces it was actually just tomatoes. They are on two different aisles.
 
Perhaps more people are making their own.
The only time I have used long life ready made pasta sauce is on holiday.
I have bought the fresh ones, that come in a plastic tub to be heated in the microwave, occasionally, that tend to be on offer if bought with fresh ravioli.

I agree with @Cinisajoy, that it would be interesting to know if pasta sales have also dropped.
 
We don't buy ready made sauces as its so easy and cheaper to make them from scratch. There was an interesting moment last year when a leading brand of pre-made sauces advised us not to eat them too often. It was to do with the salt and sugar content in them. As I work in marketing I thought that was very weird.
 
I usually make my own - onions, garlic lightly fried in olive oil, then add tinned tomatoes, black pepper and herbs (usually basil but depends on what I am using it for) - so no salt or sugar. If it needs to be a bit thicker (say, for pizza), then I add tomato puree. If I only need a small amount, I use fresh tomatoes instead of tinned. I always keep 2 or 3 tins of tomatoes, passata, and a tube of tomato puree in the cupboard. I usually make my own pasta too.
 
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