Mince Pies at Christmas - Beware of the Calories

In the run up to Christmas, all the usual festive snacks start making their reappearance on the store shelves. One of the most popular Christmas treats are mince pies.



If you've been sampling the delights of this year's mince pies, don't be surprised if you gain weight. 

Although mince pies are quite small, they do contain a large amount of calories.



Whichever type of mince pie you prefer, be it puff pastry, shortcrust pastry, or organic wholemeal, it’s rare to find a mince pie with less than 200 calories.

To give you an idea of how they compare, here’s a quick run-down of the calories to found in some of the mince pies in the stores.

Brand	Calories per Mince Pie
ASDA Smartprice Mince Pies	178
ASDA Rich Fruit Mince Pies	230
Waitrose Luxury Butter Mince Pies	236
Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Brandy Mince Pies	240
Tesco Deep Filled Mince Pies	256
Mr Kipling 6 Mince Pies	256
Waitrose Essential 12 Shortcrust Mince Pies	261
Sainsbury’s 6 Deep Mince Pies	270

If you’re trying to stick to a calorie controlled diet over Christmas but still want to enjoy some of the festive fare out there, look for mini mince pies where possible.


Here are some mini mince pies you can find in the stores.

Brand	Calories per Mince Pie
Marks & Spencer All Butter Mini Mince Pie	80
Tesco 12 Mini Mince Pies	80
Tesco Finest Mini Mince Pies	80
Duchy Originals Organic Miniature Mince Pies	101
Sainsbury's Brandy Rich Mini Mince Pies	104
Waitrose Luxury All Butter Mini Mince Pie	105

Marks & Spencer Mini Mince Pies

M&S Mini Mince Pie

Enjoy your mince pies, but if you're worried about putting on weight over Christmas, don't forget to include them in your daily calorie count. As reported in this article, a woman of average weight would need to walk for nearly 2.5 miles (3.8 kilometres) to burn off a 220 calorie mince pie!

It could be easier sticking to the mini versions of mince pies, as they're are often enough to satisfy a passing craving.

© Diets and Calories 2011 (updated 2012)