Brisbane-based online butcher Meatcart.com.au has released a “high-nutrient” vegetable and meat sausage, which it says contains 13 vitamins and minerals.

Meatcart.com.au said the sausages are aimed at children who do not like to eat their vegetables.

“We created a high-nutrient sausage that kids would love to eat but also delivers a significant portion of their recommended daily intake of vitamins including B-group vitamins, Folate, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Calcium, Phosphorus, Zinc, Iron and Magnesium,” said Darren Walsh, Food Technologist and Managing Director of Meatcart.com.au.

The Company said the development of the sausage was a lengthy process.

“It’s not just as simple as grabbing a bunch of vegetables and throwing them into a sausage mincer,” Mr Walsh said. “We had to strike the perfect balance between nutritional content, presentation and of course flavour,” he said.

Following the development of the nutritional elements, Meatcart.com.au said it “spent months scientifically testing the different combinations of vegetables to ensure it was both nutritionally sound as well as being delicious”.

The finished product is a small 60 gram beef and pork sausage (average-sized sausages are 80-100 grams) with sweet potato, corn and green peas, which retails for $4.50 for a 360g pack (6 pieces).

Customer product trials

After the sausages had been through the development phase, Meatcart.com.au said it tested the product with its customers. The trial results are as follows:

• 83 per cent of parents involved in the trial said their children were fussy eaters

• All parents surveyed said they liked the idea of a nutritionally-balanced sausage

• 66 per cent of children surveyed said they liked the sausages more than regular sausages

• The remaining 34 per cent of children surveyed said they could not tell the difference between regular sausages and the “high-nutrient” sausage

• All children surveyed said they “loved the taste”

“We knew we were onto something following the trial,” Mr Walsh said. “The parents surveyed loved the idea of being able to give their kids something they’d enjoy eating while at the same time knowing that they are getting a serve of vegetables too,” he said.

Meatcart.com.au said it attempted a competitor comparison but found that most sausage products “have no nutritional statements at all”. The Company said independent testing of its product was carried out by agrifood laboratory Symbio Alliance to verify nutrition information.

Meatcart.com.au delivers to Brisbane, the Sunshine Coast and the Gold Coast.

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