Want advanced access to my weekly Chewsday Reviews?

Every Tuesday morning receive the latest Chewsday Review delivered directly to your inbox.

Coles Mum’s Pasta Sauce | Chewsday Review

I have some questions. Who is the Mum of Coles? And is their pasta sauce up to scratch? This week I’m reviewing Coles Mum’s Pasta Sauce with Garden Veg.

Ingredients

Tomatoes (78%) [Reconstituted Puree, Diced Tomato, Acidity Regulator (Citric Acid)], Vegetables (17%) (Onion, Carrot, Roasted Capsicum, Pumpkin, Roasted Eggplant, Celery), Canola Oil, Salt, Corn Flour, Garlic, Pepper, Herbs (Basil, Oregano, Parsley).
This sauce is 95% tomato and other vegetables. I assume the “garden vegetables” are mostly onion and carrot as they’re listed first (and are the cheapest of the bunch).
May contain: almond, cashew, soy.

Positives

This sauce has no added sugar, but overall the sugar content (4g per 100g) is only a tiny bit less than big brands that do contain added sugar, like Dolmio Extra Garden Vegetables Tomato Pasta Sauce (5.9g per 100g) and Leggos Garden Vegetable Pasta Sauce (6g per 100g).
Like other tomato-based pasta sauces, total and saturated fat are within recommendations.
These are only $3 a jar and 50c of that is donated to a charity that supports children in hospital feeling homesick. This is cheaper than Dolmio’s ($4 a jar) and Leggo’s ($4.30 a jar).

Negatives

The salt content is within recommendations at 346mg per 100g, but this works out to be about 3⁄4 tsp of salt for the whole jar. We know Australians eat too much salt and you could definitely make a homemade pasta sauce with less salt.
On its own this is low in protein, but once you pair it with some pasta, cheese and maybe some kind of meat or vegetarian protein this is really a non-issue.

Marketing

Alternatives

Jars of pasta sauce are super convenient but often quite salty. This one compares quite well to big brands, and when you buy Coles Mum’s Sauce you are also donating 50c to supporting sick children.
This is on the cheaper end of the pasta sauce options, but a homemade sauce with tinned tomatoes, onion, garlic, herbs and some grated veg, would probably still be cheaper.
I generally recommend skipping jars of sauce for babies to minimise their salt intake, but if the rest of the family is eating this you could use some leftover puree as a pasta sauce for your baby.