Treat cold and flu 'significantly cheaper' with method 'from 2p' expert recommends

Treat cold and flu 'significantly cheaper' with method 'from 2p' expert recommends People could save themselves an extra expense by reading the label and skipping the brands This winter, thousands are expected to fall ill with the common cold or flu. To speed up the recovery process, people may pay a lot of money to treat themselves at home, including purchasing various painkiller medications. However, an expert claims that cheap, own-brand paracetamol and ibuprofen pills could work just as well as more expensive, branded options. Speaking on Which?'s Health Reset podcast, health and nutrition expert Shafalee Loth claims that choosing a particular brand is not what people should be looking for when stocking their medicine cabinets. Instead, she urges people to pay close attention to the ingredients and doses to make your money go further. One of the cheapest forms of paracetamol currently found online is Asda's own-brand range. For a pack of 16 caplets containing 500mg of paracetamol, shoppers pay 55p (roughly 2p per pill). Supermarket-own brand packs of tablets or caplets generally range from 35p to 38p across major UK retailers like Tesco, Morrisons, Sainsbury's ALdi and Lidl - making them vastly cheaper than branded equivalents like Panadol (£2.35 for 16 at Boots, 16p per pill) for the same 500mg dose. Shafalee claims that most brands contain the same active ingredient and some offer convenient 'bundles'. One example is Anadin Extra (£2.20 for a 16-pack at Boots, 14p per pill), which includes caffeine and aspirin alongside paracetamol. She said: "Essentially, the drugs are paracetamol and ibuprofen. You can buy those in branded forms or you can also buy generic ones in the supermarket or in pharmacies, high street pharmacies, and they are significantly cheaper. "In some instances, you may want to spend a little more on a branded product. For example, if you've got pain that you really need to relieve quickly, then you might want to look for a word such as 'advance' on the label as they have shown that they can, be faster acting." The expert added that the same idea applies to cold and flu tablets. Shafalee claims most products offer a "convenient package" but can be found much cheaper elsewhere. She said: "The main ingredients in a cold and flu formulation, whether that be a tablet, a powder, or a drink, are paracetamol, a decongestant and caffeine. "You could effectively do that yourself, but you'll just pay more for that convenience. You could take an own-brand paracetamol with a cup of coffee or a cup of tea and then have a decongestant on the side if you feel that helps for you." Even on the cheaper end, Asda's Max Strength Cold and Flu Capsules (16 pack, £2, 12.5p per pill) could be beaten with the separate approach. Using the supermarket's own-brand 2p paracetamol, combined with a standard cup of coffee (roughly 2p), is a simple remedy for roughly 4p, leaving enough aside to buy a decongestant (£1.97, less than 1p per pump for roughly 200 doses) if that helps.