Various Tesco products that claim to be price-matched to Aldi are not like-for-like, according to analysis carried out by BBC Panorama.

Items including chicken nuggets, blackcurrant squash and chicken kievs were found to contain less of their main ingredient compared to their Aldi equivalents, according to the research carried out in August.

Tesco’s chicken nuggets were found to contain just 39% chicken compared to 60% in the Aldi version.

Additionally, its chicken kievs had 44% chicken compared to 57% in Aldi’s, while its chilli con carne had 15% beef compared to 27% in the discounter’s version.

Out of 122 Tesco groceries, 38 had at least five percentage points less of their main ingredient than the items they had been matched to at the rival supermarket.Twelve Tesco items contained more of their main ingredient than Aldi.

Speaking to the BBC, Tesco insisted it constantly reviewed the quality of its groceries and has clear processes implemented to make sure its price-matched goods are comparable to Aldi.

The supermarket giant also claimed a higher quantity of any one ingredient did not necessarily equate to better quality.

The five Aldi price-matched products found to have the largest difference in the proportion of their main ingredient were chicken nuggets (chicken), chicken kievs (chicken), chilli con carne (beef), cottage pies (beef), and apple and blackcurrant squash (fruit juices).

While Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons also offer Aldi price-matched products, BBC Panorama did not find clear evidence of a pattern of consistent differences in the amounts of main ingredients in their items compared with the discounter’s equivalents.

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