Low fat v original: croissants

For this low fat v original taste test, we put all-butter croissants up against a lower-fat version. Which came out on top?

Croissants: Waitrose French butter croissants v Waitrose Love Life croissants

The difference: Waitrose’s original croissants are just over 25% fat (17% of which is saturates) and contain 443 calories per 100g. The ‘Love Life’ version contains 17% fat (of which 11% are saturates) and 382 calories per 100g… quite a big difference. Mind you, there are less ingredients in the fattier version than there are in the Love Life croissants – the latter, for example, is the only one which contains flavouring.

The test: six tasters tested the two varieties. They were not told beforehand what the difference between the varieties was, so it was a completely blind test.

The result: original wins. By a country mile. Everyone picks it, bar one person who can’t tell the difference between the two samples. ‘One was far doughier than the other’; ‘this one had the fluffier texture’; ‘a richer, more buttery taste’; and ‘one was rubbery, the other was not’ are among the comments.

Conclusion: fatty butter is so essential to a croissant, and messing with that vital ingredient denies the croissant its very purpose in life. Lovefood suggests you stick with original here.

See all our low fat v original taste tests

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