Written by Catherine Saxelby
on Wednesday, 15 March 2017.
Tagged: dairy, health, healthy eating, nutrition, review, yoghurt
We all love chips but don’t be fooled by their innocent appearance, they’re incredibly sinister. They’re so easy to munch on with a drink before dinner, or offer at a picnic; they’re portable and need no prep or refrigeration and they fool us into thinking we’re eating nothing - so thin, so light. They disappear under the radar – who remembers that packet we munched in the car on the long boring drive home? Who remembers those handfuls wolfed down before dinner? No-one. And that’s their big problem.
I know you’re looking for healthier crisps. You’re going to buy a bag anyway. So are there any that are a bit healthier? Makers of chips know we’re out there looking for something a bit better too. Every time I go shopping, those packs of brown rice crisps, lentil or beetroot chips, blue or white maize corn chips catch my eye. The terms “organic” and “free of gluten” and “wholegrain” scream out at me. Even though they’re made with healthy-sounding ingredients and proclaim they have no preservatives, colours or flavours, does that make them better for you?
I decided to investigate and dive deep into a pack of Sunrice Brown Rice Chips. On their pack, they boast they are “Made with whole grain brown rice” and “No preservatives, artificial colours and flavours, wheat or gluten.” Here goes ...
I started by checking out the ingredients and what they mean. A 156-gram packet of Sunrice Brown Rice Chips Sea Salt says it is made from (in decreasing order):
Rice flour, bumped brown rice (brown rice, colour (caramel I), salt), white corn masa flour (white corn, calcium hydroxide), vegetable oil, sesame seed, salt. |
Claim 1 “No artificial colours, flavours or preservatives”
So Claim 1 is technically correct but doesn’t make the product healthy.
Claim 2 “Made with whole grain rice”
Yes, this too is technically correct, but it implies that these are made from 100 per cent brown rice which is NOT the case. No mention is made of the fact that there’s only 26 per cent brown so I assume some 60 per cent white rice plus white corn flour. Not that good.
One con of Sunrice Brown Rice Chips is they sound like they’re healthy and good for you
Here’s a short form of the NIP from the Brown Rice Chips pack:
Nutrient | Per 35 g serve | Per 100g |
Energy kJ | 704 | 2010 |
Fat g | 7.8 | 22.3 |
Saturated fat g | 0.6 | 1.8 |
Carbohydrate g | 21.2 | 60.7 |
Dietary Fibre g | 1.6 | 4.5 |
Sodium mg | 131 | 373 |
If you’re going to buy chips to serve with drinks, yes, these are only marginally better. A little more whole grain, more fibre, and less saturated fat.
However, like all salty snack foods, they are easy to keep crunching on while you’re distracted talking or watching a movie and that’s their big danger. They are too easy to overeat and are never part of a meal – a mindless snack that’s loaded with refined, high GI, carbs, too much salt and industrial fat. Just remember that, despite the small healthy extras, they are still sadly a CHIP with all the negatives of other mindlesss, crunchy, salty, fare. Go easy on them.
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Catherine Saxelby has the answers! She is an accredited nutritionist, blogger and award-winning author. Her award-winning book My Nutritionary will help you cut through the jargon. Do you know your MCTs from your LCTs? How about sterols from stanols? What’s the difference between glucose and dextrose? Or probiotics and prebiotics? What additive is number 330? How safe is acesulfame K? If you find yourself confused by food labels, grab your copy of Catherine Saxelby’s comprehensive guide My Nutritionary NOW!
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