IF we are what we eat, then many of us are no more than fat and salt.

As we report on Page 2 of today's paper, the Consumers' Association has discovered that a single portion of some ready-made meals sold in supermarkets contain an entire day's recommended intake of fat or salt.

Differences between the brands vary wildly, suggesting that there is very little reason for so much fat or salt to be included.

There are things that can be done. Cutting out ready-meals and summoning up the energy to be adventurous in the kitchen is one alternative - although, judging by Gordon Ramsay's performance in Hell's Kitchen, if the fat doesn't get you then the swearing will.

Supermarkets could also be far more honest with their labelling. The nutritional information that some of them provide is often baffling, and no-one really knows what an E-number is or what a long word ending in 'ate' actually adds to the product.

At least one supermarket chain has a range that is labelled "healthy living". But does this mean that the rest of its products are from its "unhealthy living" range?