Starbucks Smoked Ham & Cheddar Sandwich

The Starbucks Smoked Ham and Cheddar Sandwich costs £4.40 and carries 381 calories with 20g of protein and 3.9g of fibre. Smoked ham and Cheddar with mayonnaise on malted bread.

It is the best value sandwich on the menu on the numbers that usually matter. Joint cheapest at £4.40, second lightest at 381 calories, and 20g of protein, which is more than the egg and cress at the same price and more than the chickpea wrap costing over a pound more.

Saturated fat at 4.8g is the cost of the Cheddar and it is the highest figure among the cold sandwiches, though still half what the toasties carry. Total fat at 13g is modest, and salt at 1.5g sits in the middle of the category. Cured ham and cheese together usually push salt higher than this; the modest portion of each is what keeps it down.

Malted bread gives it 3.9g of fibre, which is a genuinely good figure for a simple sandwich and well ahead of either wrap. Between this and the egg version, the malted loaf is doing more for the nutritional profile of the cold range than any of the fillings are.

Smoked rather than plain ham is a flavour decision that shows in the eating rather than the numbers. Smoke gives the sandwich a savoury depth that a mild Cheddar and mayonnaise would otherwise lack, and it is what stops a very simple combination tasting plain.

A plain ham and cheese sandwich is the item most likely to be judged against what you could make at home, and it is worth being honest about that. The bread and the smoked ham are better than supermarket standard; the portion is modest. What you are buying is a decent version of a simple thing, ready at the moment you want it, which is the whole proposition of a sandwich case.

Allergens are egg, barley, wheat, mustard and milk, and no dietary labels apply. Prices reach £5.10 on delivery. The cheese and Marmite ciabatta is the lightest sandwich at 352 calories.