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CR Flinders + Co x Paw Patrol Beef & Veggie Sausages

Flinders + Co x Paw Patrol Beef & Veggie Sausages | Chewsday Review

We’ve been dealt a couple of blows in recent times, with the discontinuation of Woolworths Veg & Beef sausages last year and more recently Jamie Oliver’s fish fingers. But my trusty sources (all of you!) have alerted me to a new product on the market. After a bit of a hunt, I found these Flinders + Co x Paw Patrol Beef & Veggie Sausages in Coles (not Woolies…). At first glance my sources are bang on, these look like a decent match for our beloved Woolworths Veg & Beef sausages. Read the review to find out what I think!

Ingredients

Premium Beef Mince (60%), Carrot (20%), Cauliflower (10%), Seasoning (Rice Flour, Potato Starch (Sulphites), Salt, Dehydrated Vegetables, Mineral Salt (451), Spices, Preservative (223 (Sulphites)), Yeast Extract, Herb, Colour (160c)), Water, Edible Collagen Casing.
These are 60% beef and 30% vegetables! Most beef sausages on the market are closer to 70% beef, but they usually have water and rice or potato starch as their next ingredients. So these have less beef, but more vegetables than most sausages.
Allergens: None.

Positives

The sausages are made up of 20% carrot and 10% cauliflower, so 2 of them provide more than a 1/4 serve of veggies.
The saturated fat is 3.5g per 100g which is just above healthy guidelines but regular beef sausages are easily 2 to 3 times this amount. Peppercorns Extra Lean Beef sausages are fairly similar with 3g per 100g.
We don’t know about the cut of meat included in the ‘beef’, although it is “Premium”- whatever that means. There’s still some standard sausage filler ingredients in this product (starches, flour etc) but 90% of this sausage is meat and veggies, which is more than most other brands.
You might not realise it online, but these are actually mini sausages. So they are 34g each instead of the usual 60-80g size of other beef sausages. For kids still learning to like meat and sausages, smaller portions may be less overwhelming and an easier starting point. In saying this, I can also see the size being problematic for sausage sizzles… One sausage will be swimming in your hot dog bun or slice of bread!

Negatives

The sodium content is 556mg per 100g which is above guidelines, but this is still reasonable compared to other sausages. Regular beef sausages are often more than 700mg per 100g, but you can find some brands with less than 500mg per 100g like Peppercorn Extra Lean Beef sausages or Woolworths Thin Beef sausages.
These will have some fibre from the vegetables, but it isn’t labelled on the packaging so we can’t say how much. This isn’t a negative, it is just a shame they haven’t included fibre on the nutrition information panel. For context my favourite Peppercorn sausages contain 1.86g per sausage (10% of a 4-8 year olds recommended daily fibre).
These sausages are expensive! They come in at $25 per kg, homebrand sausages are usually half this price and even Peppercorn sausages are only about $22 per kg.

Marketing

“20% less sodium than standard supermarket BBQ sausages”. Yes this is true if we are saying that most sausages can be around the 700mg per 100g mark, but there are still other brands with less salt than these.
“Made with 30% vegies” Yep, this is clearly shown in the ingredient list. I would just like to point out that the packaging also says “Disclosure optional!”- I don’t recommend sneaking or hiding vegetables in your child’s food as long-term it doesn’t help them learn to like vegetables.
These have a 3.5 star health rating. This is better than a lot of brands sitting around 1.5 stars, but Peppercorn Extra Lean Beef sausages are still winning with 4 stars.
Using Paw Patrol characters is a marketing tactic to get your child’s attention and up the pester power of the product… Raise your hand if you have been a victim of Bluey’s marketing in the supermarket! I don’t know of any other sausages or meat products that have used this strategy, so I’d be curious to see if this strategy actually makes your child more interested in these.

Alternatives

I’m certainly not claiming that sausages are a super nutritious food, but they do tend to be a hit with young kids, and some children find it really difficult to eat red meat so sausages can help them to get there. Remember that the high salt content of sausages means they’re not suitable for babies under 12 months.
I like the look of this new variety, and provided they pass the taste test (I will keep you updated), I would consider buying these for my family from time to time. I’m still a fan of Peppercorn Extra Lean Beef sausages.
They’re slightly cheaper, contain 70% beef and judging by the fibre content they contain a reasonable amount of carrot and onion too.