Heinz Salad Cream Research

ypes of salad dressing: mayonnaise and salad cream.

I never got to try mayonnaise until adulthood but I had a lot of salad cream as a child. I loved the stuff.

I can have it anytime now because it's a standard item on the shelves of Blighty's Tuck Store. But then I came across a recipe for salad cream in my grandmother's recipe book and decided to give it a try. And does it taste just like the Heinz Salad Cream I grew up with? No, not at all actually, but I was quite pleased with the result anyway.

If you go to the Heinz Salad Cream website you can read all about what goes into their salad cream. I compared the Heinz ingredients with my grandmother's recipe book. Bingo, exact match. My salad cream should have tasted just like Heinz's, but it didn't so you can be sure that there are undisclosed secret ingredients in the commercial product.

If you would like to help improve the recipe, buy a bottle of Heinz Salad Cream and see if you can duplicate the flavour. Send me a comment (see link at bottom of this post) with your recipe improvements.

Ingredients

• Yolks of 4 hard-boiled eggs
• 5 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons white vinegar
• 3 tablespoons cream
• Colman's Prepared Mustard, garlic powder, salt & pepper

Preparation

• Put the eggs yolks into a bowl and stir in the oil until you have a smooth paste.
• Season with garlic powder, salt, pepper and a teaspoon of Colman's Prepared English mustard
• Stir in the vinegar, ensuring the paste remains smooth
• Stir in the cream, adding a little at a time to prevent curdling

Bob's your uncle!
In the picture you can see my homemade salad cream adorning a simple avocado salad - and very nice it was too.


Ethical Salad cream

We dig into the world of mayonnaise, salad cream, pickle, chutney and relish

The condiment market is, apparently, suffering a downturn. “Chutney has lost its momentum”, “Salad cream stagnates”, read the sad headlines.(1) The only hope, it seems, comes in the form of relish which is, thanks to the increasing popularity of barbecues (global warming?), enjoying something of a boom (though mayonnaise is holding its own).

The decline in sales is being linked to healthier eating habits – salad cream out, salad dressing in; to pre-packaged sandwiches being favoured over make-your-own (goodbye pickle) and to the decline of the traditional roast dinner (no cold meat and chutney the next day). But what are the ethical implications of all this?

Branston ok?

The good news since our last report is the removal of Branston from the Nestlé boycott list following its sale to the Premier Foods group. Now for the not-so-good...

Plastic vs glass

As market growth has slowed, manufacturers have sought to ‘innovate’ their product lines in an attempt to draw consumers back. Squeezy plastic bottles have started to replace glass jars in some cases – particularly relish. Companies are trying to appeal to our lazy side and persuading us that it’s just too much effort to use a spoon to dish out the mayo. Why bother when you can squeeze instead?

Predictably, this means an increase in plastic packaging. Recovery of waste plastic bottles is estimated at around 65,000 tonnes this year (up from 48,000 tonnes in 2004).(2) However, this still only equates to a miserable 12% leaving nearly 90% of plastic bottles in landfill.


What’s more, the plastics recycling process is more complex, energy intensive and less popular than glass – partly due to the many different types of plastic but also because recycling targets set by weight discourage the recycling of lighter materials.

The following products can be bought in plastic bottles: Branston (pickle and relish), Hellmans (mayonnaise), Heinz (salad cream), Sharwoods (some chutneys). As packaging already represents the largest single sector of plastics use in the UK,(3) these brand owners are showing a significant lack of environmental responsibility by encouraging yet more plastic into landfill. Environmentally-concerned consumers can encourage companies to shift back to glass by avoiding plastic packaging wherever possible.

Battery hens

Conventional mayonnaise and salad cream contains egg. Hellmans mayonnaise and Heinz salad cream contain egg sourced from battery hens as neither company has a policy of using free-range eggs. Hens living in battery cages are subject to painful, cramped conditions, and are prevented from enjoying natural activities such as foraging and pecking on the ground.

(4) For those consumers wanting to avoid battery eggs, the following products have been made with free-range egg: Meridianand Simply Delicious (both mayonnaise and salad cream).

For those wishing to avoid eggs altogether, two mayonnaise brands covered on the table - Plamil and Mayola – are completelyegg and dairy free. They both receive product sustainability marks and get the letter ‘A’ (for animal welfare) on the table because they are vegan alternatives to normally non-vegan products.

GM through the back door

A number of companies on the table have involvement in genetic engineering. Public protest in the late 1990s eventually pushed virtually all companies to remove genetically modified (GM) ingredients from their European supply chains. Environmental campaigners continue to highlight the possible dangers of GM organisms as there is still little known about the long term effects of their release into the wild.

Social and economic problems can also result. According to Greenpeace: “...the multinational biotechnology companies own all patent rights to the crop varieties they develop, increasing their stranglehold on global agriculture and allowing them to generate vast profits.”(5)
Despite huge consumer resistance in Europe, GM products are still entering the food chain as they are being used in animal feed.

Although current EU labelling laws require GM foods to be clearly marked, they don’t require labelling of meat and dairy products from livestock fed on GM feed.(5)
Where products contain animal-derived ingredients – non vegan salad cream and mayonnaise – it is possible that, unless certified organic (which prohibits the use of GM ingredients and GM animal feed), these products could contain egg and dairy ingredients from animals fed on GM feed.

Neither HJ Heinz, Premier Foods nor Unilever have policies prohibiting the use of GM feed, so there is no guarantee that their salad cream and mayonnaise products are GM-feed free. Consumers wanting to avoid GM food altogether should opt for organic varieties, although there is growing concern that the release of GM organisms could be contaminating organic agriculture.

More HIstroy

It became a firm favourite during wartime Britain but was under threat of being discontinued 10 years ago as sophisticated consumers turned their back on it and switched to more exotic mayonnaise.

But today there is a fresh twist in the 96-year old history of salad cream, as manufacturer Heinz unveils a new flavour – lemon and black pepper – as a limited edition alongside its classic creamy yellow sauce.

Heinz Salad Cream was the first product from Heinz made specifically for the UK market – eight years of development culminated with its launch in 1914. It soon became popular with the working classes, becoming part of Britons' staple diet alongside potatoes and rice pudding, and other manufacturers such as Crosse & Blackwell and supermarkets with own-brand products followed suit.

During the rationing of world war two, with tomato ketchup in short supply, salad cream became popular with housewives keen to add flavour to bland meals. But salad cream fell out of favour as consumers switched to mayonnaise and in 2000 Heinz caused uproar among aficionados by threatening to discontinue it.

It was saved after a campaign by fans, and in more recent years sales have revived as shoppers identified it as a cheap and low-fat alternative to mayonnaise.

The new flavour is the idea of Heinz senior brand manager Lynsey Hurst, who had a brainwave while making a sandwich on a quiet night in last year. After adding a squeeze of lemon and a twist of black pepper to her salad cream, she gave her concoction to colleagues to try.

Less than a year later the product will be on sale this week at supermarkets throughout the UK. She said: "Lemon and black pepper is a classic and delicious combination. We believe the addition of these ingredients is a perfect way of bringing a new twist to a much-loved British favourite."

Heinz® Salad Cream was the first brand developed exclusively for the U.K. market. When first created in Heinz’ Harlesden (London) kitchens in 1925 much of the preparation was done by hand. Salad Cream jars were hand-packed in straw-lined barrels- 12 dozen in each. The work schedule was 180 dozen jars a day- with a halfpenny a dozen bonus if our loyal, skilled workforce could beat the target.


label design. 

Leeds-based digital marketing agency Swamp has launched a new website for Heinz Salad Cream.

The product has experienced a loss of popularity with some consumers in recent years who regard it as less healthy than mayonnaise or salad dressing alternatives. Heinz is addressing this issue through the site by re-engaging target consumers including mums aged 25-44.

Heinz’s Sarah Crimmens said: “Our research had shown that there were many misconceptions about our product and this new website will address those issues.”
The site includes a recipe selection that enables visitors to view streaming videos of chef Dan Green preparing a range of dishes which feature the Heinz product.

Swamp’s Phil Stott said: “A large proportion of the target audience grew up with Heinz Salad Cream and research has shown that it often invokes a taste of childhood summers. The website will reassure this group, many of whom are now parents themselves, that this ‘pourable sunshine’ is versatile and far lower in fat than many of its rivals.”