‘They should be tracked down and reported’: the best (and worst) supermarket hummus tasted and rated by Honey & Co

How do mass-produced versions fare when rated by experts who make the classic Middle Eastern dip fresh every day?

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Let’s start with a caveat: we have serious issues with the concept of readymade, long-shelf-life hummus. Some dips lend themselves to tub life, but for us, hummus is like bread: something that should be made fresh daily. Indeed, in our restaurants, we make a batch every day, and the tubs we sell in the deli are good for three.

We also want to challenge the idea that readymade hummus is a “healthy” snack. Freshly made with chickpeas and tahini, and seasoned with lemon, salt, garlic and maybe a little cumin, yes, hummus is wholesome. However, most of the ones we tested had added oil (olive oil in the better ones, vegetable oil in the rest), and some included preservatives and other additives, making them ultra-processed foodstuffs and decidedly not healthy.