Marks & Spencer is offering a cheeseburger pasta salad … yes really

The cheeseburger pasta salad probably isn’t the healthiest salad out there (PA Wire)
The cheeseburger pasta salad probably isn’t the healthiest salad out there (PA Wire)

Marks & Spencer’s newest offering is a cheeseburger pasta salad.

Complete with beef meatballs, Red Leicester cheese and burger sauce mayo, the cheeseburger pasta salad will set you back £3.90.

It’s part of M&S’s Viva Summer range, where you can also find chicken tikka masala pasta.

The new offering may be a “salad”, but there are probably healthier options out there, if you’re watching your calories.

It contains 755 calories – meanwhile the famous McDonald’s Big Mac contains 493 calories and a double contains 694 calories. The salad contains 33g of fat, while a Big Mac contains 24g and the double version has 38g.

During Friday's episode of Loose Women, Saturday’s singer, Frankie Bridge, tucked into the cheeseburger pasta salad and came to its defence.

“You can’t knock it until you try it,” she said to the other panellists.

“Now, that does not look like a salad to me,” Nadia Sawalha said.

Bridge responded: “Don't read the calories. I mean it does taste like a burger!”

M&S defended its new offering, saying: “Our food-on-the-move range includes healthy lunch choices across salads, pasta salads and sandwiches, which are highlighted by our Eat Well flower on packs.”

M&S also came under fire for its new £6 Posh Egg Mayo and Watercress double sandwich.

One person said: “£6 for an egg sandwich! The world has gone mad,” while another said: “£6, what the f***. That’s ridiculous.”

“You could buy a loaf of bread, butter, plus fillings for that much and make many sandwiches,” another said.

Another said: “A user said: “Add the word ‘posh’ and you can charge what you like lol.”

So what makes this version of egg mayo posh?

Well, the ‘posh’ version has 166g of filling, compared with the 115g inside the standard version – and it includes an entire sliced egg, generously coated in salad cream and mayonnaise topped with a hint of pepper and watercress.