These Are The Worst Kind Of Pre-Packaged Sandwiches You Can Buy

Thinking about getting a little sambo for your lunch today? You miiiiiight wanna have a second think about what fillings to get.

Researchers in Manchester looked at which sandwiches are the worst offenders for harming the environment in terms of carbon footprints. One sandwich filling in particular has the same amount of pollution that would be produced by driving a car for 19 kilometres.

So, which sandwiches are the worst for the environment?

The scientific study looked at the carbon footprint of 40 home-made and pre-packaged sambos and studied their whole life cycle: the production of the ingredients and the packaging as well as food waste.

Ready-made sandwiches place an extra burden on the environment by needing to be kept chilled, transported and packaged, and it was found that carbon emissions can be cut in half simply by making your own sandwich at home.

The worst sandwiches in terms of carbon footprint

1. Ready-made all day breakfast: 1,441 CO₂ eq.

2. Ready-made ham and cheese: 1,350 CO₂ eq.

3. Ready-made prawn and mayo: 1,255 CO₂ eq.

4. Ready-made egg and bacon: 1,182 CO₂ eq.

5. Ready-made ham salad: 1,119 CO₂ eq.

In the UK, they eat 11.5 billion sandwiches annually which generates, on average, 9.5 million tonnes of CO₂ eq. This is equivalent to the annual use of 8.6 million cars.