Dolmio warns customers not to eat its sauces every day

Dolmio is to label its Italian sauces and meal kits for "everyday" or "occasional" consumption to raise awareness of their high levels of salt, sugar and fat.

The brand's slogan, "When'sa your Dolmio day?", will now function as a literal reminder that some products contain such high levels of unhealthy ingredients that they should not be consumed more than once a week.

For example, one 120g serving of Dolmio's Carbonara Pasta Bake sauce contains 18 per cent of an adult's guideline daily allowance of fat, 16 per cent of salt and 20 per cent of saturated fat.

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"As these products are not intended to be eaten daily, [parent company] Mars Food will provide guidance to consumers on-pack and on its website regarding how often these meal offerings should be consumed within a balanced diet," said the company, in a press release.

Mars Food is also to overhaul many of its products to reduce the amount of sugar, sugar and fat they contain.

A food brand represented by a puppet family of Italian stereotypes might not appear overly concerned with respecting the country's cultural heritage, but the press release said that some recipes would still contain high levels of these ingredients to maintain their "authentic nature".

The change comes as part of a five-year health initiative by Mars Food that, among other things, aims to cut salt in its products by an average of 20 per cent by 2021. It has also pledged that all its tomato-based jar products will include a minimum of one serving of vegetables.

Other brands owned by the company which will be affected by the revamp include the Uncle Ben's range, which will include more wholegrain rice offerings.

The Mars Food website will be updated with the new information "within the next few months".