'Sainsbury's new packaging rule is awful - the supermarket needs to think again'

Sainsbury's has issued an explanation after its new packaging was branded 'awful' and 'unappetising'.

The supermarket recently rolled out a new packaging rule across all of its stores in a bid to cut down on plastic waste. Sainsbury's has ditched traditional packaging for some of its more traditional meat products, including beef mince. The new vacuum packaging, according to Sainsbury's, uses 55% less plastic than its predecessor.

But while the new packaging is more environmentally friendly, some shoppers claim it is affecting the quality of the meat. One woman is now calling for change.

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Speaking to the BBC, Vicki Cole, from Huddersfield, said she bought four 750g packs of mince per month for her batch cooking. "Minced beef is really versatile and reheats well so I make a lot of cottage pie, lasagne, chilli and a keema curry," she said.

"I was looking at it and there was a lady filling the fridges and she said 'it's new packaging but it's exactly the same mince' and so I put two packs in my trolley out of necessity really."

She said when she went to open the pack, the meat looked "pretty unappetising". "They've sucked all the air out and squashed it so it plopped out of the packet and into the frying pan in a big rectangular clump," she said. "As I started breaking it up with the wooden spatula it was staying in big balls that were cooking on the outside but not the inside."

Mrs Cole said it needed 40 minutes to cook, making it chewier than normal. She added that she was offered a refund in Nectar points by Sainsbury's, which she has accepted, but she wants the supermarket to think again.

"I get that we