Health Food? Don’t believe the hype
You'd be forgiven for thinking that once safely within the doors of your local health food store you can shop and eat without a care. Health enhancing claims shout at you from almost every product but what lurks beneath the packaging can be a very different story. Yahoo! nutritionist Rachael Anne Hill investigates.
Blackfriars black cherry flapjack
One 110g bar provides nearly one third of an average woman's daily fat allowance and over a quarter of her calorie intake. Five different sources of sugar are itemised in the ingredients list along with 16 'E' numbers.
Verdict: The large portion size coupled with the amount of fat and sugars this product contains makes it a really calorific snack. Go for a smaller, non coated version or better still, make your own.
[See also: The best snack food substitutions] - On Body Beautiful by Special K
Purdey's multivitamin energy drink
The natural sugars in the grape and apple juice combined with the added glucose make this a high sugar drink. There is also very little research to prove the effectiveness of the herbal ingredients such as Bayberry Bark and Prickly Ash Bark.
Verdict: The sugars will provide some energy but could send blood sugars soaring and promote dental caries. The drink does contain a small amount of vitamins but there is no magic health formula here. A glass of fresh fruit juice diluted with sparkling water is likely to do much the same job at a fraction of the cost.
Honey dipped banana chips
One small 125g packet contains 570 kcals and with a fat content of 32g it's easy to see where 50% of these calories come from. The majority of the fat these banana chips contain is saturated too which can elevate cholesterol levels and the addition of sugars and honey make them a high sugar snack.
Verdict: Far better to have a fresh banana instead which will contain the same amount of banana with just 125 Kcals and 0.4 grams of fat.
Yogurt coated apricot pieces
A small 100g packet contains 480 Kcals and at 21grams per 100g it's high in fat too. Anything over 3 grams of saturated fat per 100 grams is considered high. However, these innocent looking treats come in at four times that amount combined with 11 teaspoons of sugar.
Verdict: Forget the yogurt coating and go for ready to eat semi dried apricots instead. They contain a third of the calories, three times more fibre and almost no fat.
Thai chilli rice crackers
Made largely from rice, palm oil, sugar, soy sauce and salt it's perhaps no surprise these are both high in calories, fat, saturated fat and salt.
Verdict: Weight for weight these are nutritionally pretty much the same as crisps so although ok now and again, don't be fooled into thinking that because they came from a health food store they are any better for you.
Coconut bar
Made purely from coconut and rice syrup one 53 gram bar contains 264 calories, 5 teaspoons of sugar and a whopping 16.9 grams of fat, 15 of which are saturated.
Verdict: A great source of fibre (almost 5 grams per bar) but a couple of apples contain the same amount with only a fraction of the calories, sugar and fat you'd find here.
The truth behind the headlines: Food myths
