TESCO has pulled some own brand products from its shelves after an investigation exposed them to be exactly the same as cheaper products.
The supermarket said there was no significant difference between two of its own brand cheeses and cheaper ones sold under its bargain Creamfields range.
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There was a price difference of more than 50p for what turns out to be the same product, an investigation by BBC One’s Morning Live found.
Tesco branded halloumi cost £2 while the Creamfields halloumi cost £1.45 – a difference of 55p.
Meanwhile a light cheddar cheese cost £2 for Tesco’s own-brand, compared to £1.79 for the Creamfields one.
But the Tesco branded cheeses and the Creamfields items are both produced by supermarket at the same factory and have the same ingredients and nutritional information.
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Tesco told the BBC it will either immediately discontinue the items or reformulate them.
However, the supermarket disputed one of the investigation’s claims.
It said that salad cheeses that were highlighted in the show as the same – one branded as Tesco and the other as Creamfields – are in fact different.
Tesco said one has more protein, sunflower, lecithin and milk in it.
The retailer also said that tinned carrots identified in the TV show as coming from the same factory were different because they used different grades of vegetable.
One was sold under the Tesco bran, while the other was labelled as Grower’s Harvest, and there was a 10p difference in price.
The BBC discovered the twin products by looking at the batch codes – products have the same batch code on the packaging when they are made in the same factory.
The BBC show also found different priced Asda items were made in the same factory, with the same ingredients and had the same nutritional information,
Asda’s Smart Price chips cost 90p and its straight cut chips cost £1.25.
There was an 11p difference between the supermarket’s Smart Price branded tins of peas in water and the Asda green label tin.
Asda told the BBC that the products were made in the same factory but that they were all different grades.
This means they are a slightly different in size, colour, texture or flavour and that this is made clear by the packaging.
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Supermarkets do not have to make these differences clear on packaging.
A previous investigation by Channel 4 found value range items were half the price of more expensive ones but had the same ingredients and nutritional information.
Tesco has been contacted for comment.
