Asda has come under fire from the pigmeat industry for launching a sausage that costs just 2p. The Smartprice sausages, which are being sold in an eight-pack for 16p, are part of an Asda promotion running this week to give a family of four a bangers, mash and carrot meal for £1.57 and had previously been sold for 54p. It is not the first time Asda has courted controversy over its meat pricing, having infamously launched a £2 chicken last August. Only last month Asda promoted the sausages for 20p, undercutting the Tesco equivalent by more than half. The latest sausage price cut was launched to help families through the current difficult financial period, Asda said. "Families are feeling the impact of the credit crunch," said sausage buyer Jenny Liggat. "Food prices have increased but Asda is committed to continually offering customers great value products at an everyday low price." Bpex, which is running a high-profile campaign to persuade retailers to give a higher share of the price back to farmers, strongly criticised the move and described it as ill-timed. "Asda needs to recognise the potential damage they're causing with a piece of activity like this," said Chris Lamb, consumer marketing manager at Bpex. "If it's their regular 54p sausages that are reduced to 16p that could put more pressure on the pig and pig processing industry." Bpex this week published the results of a YouGov survey claiming that 72% of regular pork shoppers would pay more for pork products in order to help farmers through the current crisis. "If higher prices don't happen soon farmers will go out of business," said Bpex chairman Stewart Houston. Asda's promotion was also slammed by Guild of Fine Food national director Bob Farrand. "Now that world grain shortages are forcing up pork prices and pig farmers are dying on their feet, what does Asda do? Launch a 2p sausage," he said.

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