The maker of a "lighter" sausage popular with dieters has hit back after Slimming World pulled the product from its lists because tests suggested they were "much higher" in fat than advertised.

The weight loss organisation said it sent a batch of Porky Lights for nutritional analysis when it became "concerned about the fatty texture" of the sausages which are described as "low fat" by the maker.

G White & Co had seen their Porky Lights sausages explode in popularity after Slimming World told its members they were healthier than a regular banger.

Daily Echo:

The sausages, each said by the maker to be 78 calories and 3% fat, were classified as equalling half a "Syn" - the unit used by Slimming World - each.

It meant dieters could eat double the number of Porky Lights compared with a "healthy" alternative available from a supermarket - and several more than a standard Cumberland - for the same number of Syns.

Allison Brentnall, head of food at Slimming World, said: "(Testing) is something we do routinely with products that we worry may affect our members' weight losses.

"The analysis of this batch suggests that the sausages are indeed much higher in fat than the nutritional information on the product's packaging had indicated - and this would affect their Syn value significantly.

"We've let Porky Lights know about our findings and, in order to protect our members' weight losses, which is always our priority, we have temporarily removed the sausages from our Syns database."

According to the Surrey-based sausage maker, the products are made with leaner cuts of pork shoulder and are gluten free and low in salt and sugar.

Chris Price, G White & Co managing director, said rigorous development of the recipe and stringent quality control processes meant its labelling was accurate.

He said: "Slimming World's recent re-valuation of the Porky Lights Syn value as a result of some new tests has come to light and is causing concern amongst Porky Lights customers.

"G White & Co are currently in dialogue with Slimming World to establish how their values were ascertained but want to unequivocally state that the Slimming World results are neither consistent between their own batch tests and are highly inconsistent with the nutritional results that have been produced by numerous tests, over a number of months from a number of independent UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service) approved food laboratories."

The firm published its latest test results which showed its sausages contained 3g of fat per 100g when cooked.

However dieters took to social media to voice their concerns over Slimming World's claims and warned other slimmers a single Porky Light could equal 4.5 Syns.

One wrote: " So 4.5 syns EACH?! No wonder I put weight on this week! I was counting them as 0.5 syn each!"