People left sickened after learning how vegan sausages are produced

'If you want to be vegan eat actual plants'

However, that being said, viewers of Supermarkets Unwrapped: The Vegan Aisle were left absolutely repulsed after learning about how a number of plant-based products are actually made.

The documentary, which aired on Channel 4 earlier this week, had Helen Lawal visiting Tesco to learn more about their vegan burgers while John Whaite went to a sausage factory to see how they make vegan bangers.

When John visited Heck Foods in Yorkshire he met Innovations Manager Callum Smith who looks over the production of over 600 sausages every day.

Callum told John that the skin on the vegan sausages, which appears similar to the skin on regular bangers, gives the sausages a 'snap'.

He explained: "We use a textured vegetable protein and then we've developed some flavours to make it taste like a pork sausage."

He added: "We bump the meat-free sausage mix and a gel into this little head at the same time. This is alginate gel and it's made from seaweed."

The vegetable sausage mix then passes under a curtain of calcium chloride where the skin is cut before it's ready to be chopped into individual portions.

Viewers slammed the program with one person writing: "Urgh… I rarely watch live TV but watching Supermarkets Unwrapped, and feeling sick watching the food being made… this is not a good program."

Another person wrote: "This Channel 4 programme really showing some disgusting concoctions in the making of vegan food."

Another person added: "Watching Supermarkets Unwrapped on Channel 4. They're doing vegan aisle.

"Dear God, the extent manufacturers will go to produce UPF [ultra-processed food] crap to replace natural foods.

"If you want to be vegan, eat actual plants, not this synethetic sh**."

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