14 Of The Unhealthiest Store-Brand Foods You Can Buy At Aldi

According to a report by data specialist Numerator, 80% of the products Aldi sold in its US stores between March 2023 and March 2024 were from private labels, otherwise known as store brands. Aldi stores located in other countries demonstrate a similar dominance of store brands. In the UK, senior members of Aldi have reported that the sales of store-brand goods are growing at twice the speed of other products. This dominance comes at a price: Many of Aldi's popular store-brand foods are decidedly unhealthy, as the following article reveals.

For the purposes of this article, we have focused on foods that are high in both saturated fat and sodium. Diets that are consistently high in these two nutrients have been linked with various illnesses, diseases, and conditions, including high cholesterol and heart disease. The National Center for Health Statistics reported that, in 2022, heart disease was the leading cause of death for Americans, with over 700,000 people succumbing to the disease.

Of course, focusing on foods high in saturated fat and sodium alone means that many other unhealthy store-brand foods sold by Aldi, particularly baked goods, desserts, and other sweet treats, are not mentioned in this article. This does not mean that they are healthy, rather that they do not match the parameters set out by this specific article.

Deli-style and refrigerated food products are prized for their convenience. In Aldi, many of these products come from its own brand Park Street Deli, including the refrigerated Macaroni & Cheese. While mac and cheese is known to be a relatively unhealthy dish, Park Street Deli's version is especially concerning. A 225-gram serving of the product, which is less than half a container's worth, contains 7 grams of saturated fat. This amounts to 35% of an adult's daily value.

More concerning is the sodium content of Park Street Deli Macaroni & Cheese. This same half-container serving size boasts a shocking 1,010 milligrams of sodium, 44% of an adult's daily value. Regardless of whether or not you eat the entire mac and cheese by yourself in one sitting or stick with the proper serving size, it is easy to define Park Street Deli's Macaroni & Cheese as one of Aldi's unhealthiest store-brand foods.

Specially Selected is an Aldi store brand that has been available in the US since 2013. The brand sells a range of gourmet foods in categories including frozen foods and baked goods. Interestingly, the gourmet nature of these foods does not mean they are healthier than other items stocked in Aldi. In fact, some of the Specially Selected foods, including the brand's Slow Cooked Broccoli and Cheddar Soup, are decidedly unhealthy.

This heat-and-eat gourmet soup is actually one of the unhealthiest foods in this entire article. A 15.5-ounce container contains 12 grams of saturated fat, exactly the same as one of the aforementioned gyros. The soup also boasts 1,440 milligrams of sodium per container, which is 63% of an adult's daily value. This is the most of any store-brand food mentioned in this article making Specially Selected Slow Cooked Broccoli and Cheddar Soup one of the unhealthiest store-brand foods you can buy at Aldi.

Over the years, trail mix has morphed from a blend of nuts and dried fruit into a type of quasi-confectionary, packed with chocolate and other types of candy. Aldi's Southern Grove Indulgent Trail Mix is no different, containing peanut butter drops, an array of nuts and dried fruits, and both white and regular chocolate. Given this ingredient list, it's unsurprising that Southern Grove Indulgent Trail Mix contains high amounts of saturated fat; a 0.3 cup serving boasts 4.2 grams, 21% of an adult's daily value. While such high fat values are much needed if out on a long hike or expedition, it makes this trail mix unsuitable for day-to-day snacking.

On a healthier note, Southern Grove Indulgent Trail Mix only contains 66 milligrams of sodium per serving. At just 3% of an adult's daily value, this is not too concerning a number. However, the low sodium content is somewhat offset by the trail mix's high added sugar content; the product contains 3.6 grams of added sugars per serving. That being said, it's the saturated fat content that's of most concern.

Aldi markets Clancy's White Cheddar Cheese Popcorn as a healthy snack, with marketing materials stating: "Clancy's White Cheddar Cheese Popcorn from ALDI is a savory, flavorful snack for any time of day. Made with natural cheese flavors, this 100% whole grain popcorn is a healthy choice." This is debatable. A one ounce serving of the popcorn, which is less than an eighth the bag, contains two grams of saturated fat, more than a 10% of an adult's daily value.

Clancy's White Cheddar Cheese Popcorn also contains a lot of sodium, 240 milligrams per serving to be exact. Again, this is equal to 10% of an adult's daily value, a significant amount especially when coming from a snack food. As a result, it's quite clear that, far from being a healthy snack, Clancy's White Cheddar Cheese Popcorn is one of the unhealthiest store-brand foods you can buy at Aldi.

Deli Chicken Egg Rolls are another unhealthy store-brand food by Park Street Deli. As with the brand's macaroni and cheese product, the main concern when it comes to the egg rolls is their sodium content. A single roll contains 430 milligrams of sodium, which is just under 20% of an adult's daily value. Needless to say, this is a staggering amount to be included in a single roll, clearly marking this store-bought food as unhealthy.

Given that the egg rolls are filled with white chicken meat, cabbage, carrot, and onion, the saturated fat content in these store-brand egg rolls is much less of a concern. In fact, each roll only contains one gram of saturated fat. While not an insignificant amount, this saturated fat content is markedly less than most of the other foods included in this article. That being said, the egg roll's salt content is so staggering that it warrants the food's inclusion in this article by itself.

Burman's is an Aldi store-brand that specializes in sauces. The unhealthiest of these is a ready-made curry sauce, specifically a Korma Simmer Sauce, which contains coconut cream, heavy cream, and dried coconut, three ingredients that are high in saturated fat. Unsurprisingly, Burman's Korma Simmer Sauce is also high in saturated fat with ½ cup containing 8 grams of saturated fat. This amounts to 40% of an adult's daily value. Given this is such a high percentage, it's possible that, once other ingredients are added, a korma made with Burman's sauce would contain the majority of an entire day's worth of saturated fat.

A half-cup of Burman's Korma Simmer Sauce also contains 420 milligrams of sodium. This is 18% of an adult's daily value. While still an important part of the sauce's unhealthy nutritional profile, this sodium content pales in comparison to the sauce's staggering saturated fat content.

Eating what amounts to pure cheese as a snack is rarely a healthy option. Be that as it may, many people opt to snack on products like Aldi's Happy Farm's Stringy Cheese. One 28-gram bar of low moisture mozzarella cheese constitutes this product. Each of these bars contains 3 grams of saturated fat and 200 milligrams of sodium. This amounts to 15% and 9% of an adult's daily value and makes the stringy cheese nutritionally similar to Breakfast Best's Pancakes & Sausage on a stick.

Happy Farm's Stringy Cheese is marketed as being a great snack for both children and adults. However, children need to consume much fewer calories than adults, meaning a single stringy cheese will make up a far greater amount of their saturated fat and sodium daily values. For example, children aged between four and eight years old are advised to consume around 1,000 milligrams of sodium per day according to a study published in the Paediatrics Child Health. This means one bar of Happy Farm's Stringy Cheese would constitute 20% of a child's sodium daily value. This is something parents who are purchasing the product should take into account before deciding to give Happy Farm's Stringy Cheese to their children.