How much meat is in a frankfurter. We checked seven packs

A frankfurter producer has to declare on the label how much meat is inside. We checked seven packs from one chiller.

• Berlinki classic 315 g: 22.06 zł/kg, 71 percent meat (51 pork, 20 chicken)
• Tarczyński family pack premium from ham 440 g: 29.52 zł/kg, 95 percent meat
• Sokołów Sokoliki chicken and veal 140 g: 29.93 zł/kg, 90 percent meat
• Krakus from chicken breast 200 g: 36.45 zł/kg, 90 percent meat
• Krakus from pork ham 200 g: 36.45 zł/kg, 90 percent meat
• Tarczyński naturalnie from chicken 160 g: 48.69 zł/kg, meat as the only raw material
• Tarczyński naturalnie 100% from ham 200 g: 38.95 zł/kg, 100 percent meat

At the bottom of the shelf the price tells the truth

The cheapest frankfurters are 71 percent meat, and you can see it in the list. Besides meat there is water, collagen pork protein, stabilisers, glucose, monosodium glutamate as a flavour enhancer and modified starch. At 22.06 zł per kilo it's hard to expect otherwise, and the producer hides nothing. Almost a third of the contents simply isn't meat.

Higher up the shelf it gets interesting

The same producer sells two packs made from the same pork ham, and the gap between them is 9.43 zł per kilo.

The naturalnie 100% from ham, 200 g, costs 7.79 zł, that's 38.95 zł/kg. Five items on the list: pork ham meat, salt, spices, acerola powder, natural flavourings.

The family pack premium from ham, 440 g, costs 12.99 zł, that's 29.52 zł/kg. Ten items: 95 percent meat, starch, salt, spices, spice extracts, flavourings, sugar, pork protein, sodium ascorbate and sodium nitrite.

So that 9.43 zł per kilo buys three things: five percentage points more meat, no sodium nitrite, and no starch or sugar. That's a real difference rather than a name on the wrapper. Whether it's worth a 32 percent premium is yours to judge, because it mostly depends on whether you avoid nitrites.

One thing to note: both packs carry the same front-of-pack badge about no glutamates, colourings or phosphates. That claim doesn't separate them. The list on the back does.

Do the maths yourself, the tag can mislead

For these frankfurters the shop's page states 48.69 zł per kilo. That figure doesn't match the price: 7.79 zł for 200 grams is 38.95 zł/kg. The 48.69 fits a 160 gram pack, which is the chicken variant sold at the same price. To be safe we rechecked every figure from our earlier posts, and there the price per kilo matches to the grosz.

The lesson is simple and applies to all of us at the shelf: the price per kilo on the tag is a handy shortcut, but when the stakes are high, divide the price by the pack weight yourself. It takes as long as pulling out your phone.

The rule for your next shop

The meat percentage is always on the label, and it's the only number on this shelf that really compares products. Read it together with the price per kilo rather than per pack, because frankfurters come in sizes from 140 to 440 grams and the price on the front tells you nothing.

Snugmeal does this counting for you, on real prices and ingredient lists from Polish shops.

It launches this autumn. Leave your address in the form just below this post, and at launch you'll get a one-time 20% discount code for your first subscription.

Data: prices, pack sizes and full ingredient lists read live from product pages on zakupy.biedronka.pl on 16 August 2026. We calculated the price per kilo ourselves from the price and the pack weight. For the Tarczyński naturalnie range the producer gives no percentage, because meat is the only raw material of its kind. Our own calculations.