This week Value4Money looks at Cheese slices.

Dunnes Stores Cheese Slices €1.89 for 340 grams, €5.55 per kg

Highs: These are the cheapest of the cheese slices tried by an enormous margin. They are individually wrapped, which keeps them fresh for longer and each pack has twice as many slices as the competition.

Lows: This might not, however be such a good thing. These "cheese food slices" are from a bygone era when manufacturers didn't bother making the product look, feel or taste anything like the actual thing they were supposed to be. These contain just 26 per cent cheese - Lord only knows what the remaining 74 per cent is but whey powder and E-numbers feature prominently on the ingredient list. The texture is just horrible and they taste like very heavily salted plastic.

Verdict: Yuck

Star rating: *

Easi Singles €2.29 for 220 grams, €10.40 per kg

Highs: Despite the fact that this "cheese food" is just 60 per cent cheese, it still manages to look a lot like real cheese, what ever about the taste. It is fairly cheap, widely available and the packet is easy (or easi) to reseal.

Lows: The packet appears a tad free and easy with the truth and its promise that these cheese slices will be "ideal for sandwiches and rolls", is debatable. It might be considered ideal if you wanted your sandwich or roll to be tough and tasteless but otherwise it's a long way from ideal. The slices are of a thicker cut than the Dunnes option but, given the awfulness of the texture and the absence of flavour, that's not such a good thing.

Verdict: Awful

Star rating:*

Low Low Red Cheese €2.85 for 200 grams, €14.25 per kg

Highs: This tastes like, and actually is, cheese, albeit cheese with a reduced fat content. It has just two-thirds of the fat of regular cheddar and is lower in calories, too. It has a nice texture and a refreshingly minimal wholesome-sounding ingredient list. The packaging is easy to seal, which keeps the cheese slices fresher for longer.

Lows: It lacks the tang of a really good cheddar and tastes a little dull. It is also the most expensive of the cheeses tried. And surely red is a colour rather than a variety of cheese?

Verdict: The healthier option

Star rating: ***

Kilmeaden Sliced Red Cheddar €2.79 for 200 grams, €13.95 per kg

Highs: This is the strongest and best-tasting of the cheese slices by an absolutely huge margin. It has a fresh sharp taste and is a welcome break from the processed stuff which sits alongside it on our supermarket shelves. The slices are good and chunky and look like you sliced them yourself. It is comparatively pricey but certainly worth spending the money on.

Lows: The packet is supposed to be easy to reseal but, at least on this occasion, proved next to impossible to close, which meant the cheese was the first to grow hard and inedible in the fridge after opening.

Verdict: The real deal

Star rating: ****