THE HAGUE—It says that only standard smoked sausages and ordinary sausages contain more fat. The association also points out that sausages may be called 'low-fat' if they contain no more than 20 percent fat. However, it calls such a designation "questionable for a piece of meat of which one fifth is fat."

Products designated as “light” must contain 30 percent less fat or sugar than the original, while meat products labeled “magere,” can contain 20 percent fat. The “Gezondgids” (Health Guide) reported that the packaging of many sausages claim that the contents contain 30 percent less fat, but that these claims are untrue. Many manufacturers simply round the fat percentages up.

The sausages reportedly contain a higher percentage of fat than hamburger, meatballs and pork cuts.

The term “rookworst,” or smoked sausages, is also a misnomer in most cases. Only the fresh smoked sausage from the Albert Heijn is truly smoked. The rest use an aroma to give the sausages an artificial smoked flavour. A spokesperson from HEMA, however, retorted that their smoked sausages are smoked for hours in oak wood smoke.

The Consumers' Association says the product with the most fat is the well-known smoked sausage from the HEMA shopping chain.

The association emphasises that its investigation of 22 different smoked sausages studied ingredients and fat content and not taste. It notes that the average Dutch individual eats 860 grams of smoked sausage—low-fat and standard—a year.

Radio Netherlands/Expatica