Asda unveils the 2p sausage: But what's in the bargain banger?

But, as Asda unveiled plans to sell sausages for 2p each, critics have questioned just how salivating the offer really is.

Priced at just 16p for eight, the Smart Price sausages contain around a third pork, along with pork rind and pork fat.

To find out just how tasty they are, the Daily Mail asked chef Rowley Leigh for his expert verdict.

Chef Rowley Leigh gave his expert opinion on the sausages

His first impressions were not positive, describing them as 'pale, pasty and plastic'.

The top chef of West London's Le Cafe Anglais said: 'They are utterly mundane. It's just more bread than meat.

'The combination of meat and water becomes a paste which binds the whole thing together.

'It's very doughy, completely bland, it just takes up some space in your mouth.

'My ten-year-old son eats rubbish but even he would baulk at this. It would be a sad reflection on a pig's life to end up like this.'

Mr Leigh said that the only way to guarantee the sausages are even slightly palatable would be to ensure they are cooked well on the outside.

He also recommended that they be cooked slowly because the water and starch content makes them liable to expand and burst under heat.

Mr Leigh added: 'There is a more serious question about the morality of cheap food.

'Personally I am very opposed to elitism in food. I hate organic produce for that reason because it causes people to spend more money than they can afford. But there are limits.'

A spokesman for Asda said it had slashed the cost of its Smart Price sausages to help cash-strapped families create a meal for less than £1.60.

He pointed out that a 2.5kilo bag of Smart Price potatoes is only 73p  -  the same price as last year  -  while a 1.5kilo bag of carrots is 68p.

It means a meal of bangers, mash and carrots can be served up for a family of four at a cost of just £1.57.

In the past year, sales of Asda's economy-brand sausages and bacon have risen by 48.2 per cent, with sales of the range's gammon also increasing by 56 per cent.

Jenny Liggat, Asda's sausage buyer, said: 'Families are feeling the impact of the credit crunch in their pockets.

'Food prices have increased but Asda is committed continually to offering customers great value products at an everyday low price.

'Our Smart Price ranges are very popular with customers and we thought that the idea of a 2p sausage would be very welcome news in the aisles.

'All of our Smart Price ranges contain no artificial colours or flavourings.' Sausages  -  the name comes from the Latin salsus, meaning salted  -  were first mentioned 2,700 years ago in The Odyssey.

Bangers and mash is thought to have first been put on the menu by British pubs shortly after the First World War.