OT Healthy Sweets

[alan_m]

I've just opened a packet of Rountrees Fruit Pastilles with "30% less sugar"

As some of you may guess - each pastille is 2/3rds the size of the original.

[spuorgelgoog]

So 3% *more* sugar by weight, probably because the smaller sweets have more surface coating of sugar to volume.

"Same original price" too probably?

One of the TV programmes showed how the manufacturers can make 'healthy' bagels by making the holes bigger.

Owain

[Brian Gaff]

I don't like ssweets but Ginger nuts and what I'd like to know is if I got a bar code reader, would I be able to tell what was in the packet at the supermarket? Brian

[Andy Burns]

In the packet, as in "it's ginger nuts" yes, but as in the nutritional information generally no.

But there is this site which is a crowd-sourced product database, searchable by barcode

[critcher]

no

[Max Demian]

Just search for the item on your (or any) supermarket's website. They have ingredients and nutritional information.

[alan_m]

The bar-code just gives the product code. For my pack of fruit pastilles the bar code says 7613035430259

But the packet also has a QR_code and reading that it gives: The web address for Nestle/Rowntrees and Rowntrees Fruit Pastilles 30% less sugar Pouch 110g

Very few products have an additional QR_code, which can also be read by many phone App bar-code readers.

[fred]

Whatever about this my pet peeve is overwrapped sweets. You buy a bag of sweets and each one is tiny but fully wrapped. One ends up with a bag full of wrappers when finished

[damduck-egg]

I hate that as well, makes it far harder to hide the evidence from the missus that that you have been eating forbidden goods, at least the lardy cake comes in an easily hidden paper bag.

G.Harman

[Bob Eager]

If you keep eating the whole thing, the evidence will soon become apparent.

In this household, SWMBO *buys* the lardy cakes, and we share them.

[spuorgelgoog]

See, those telly programmes about making your marriage more interesting after a certain age with buying strange things off t'internet and putting them in strange places are getting it all wrong.

The secret of a happy marriage is sharing lardy cakes.

Owain

[F]

And I read somewhere that Weightwatchers' bread is 'low calorie' because the slices are smaller.

[tabbypurr]

From what I've seen ww products have no less calories per 100g than any other. It would of course be easy to make them lower calorie, but no.

NT

[damduck-egg]

Took a while for mine to enjoy one as she had never had a decent one, we now get from them market stall by a Baker based in Dorset. In the rationed days I got there bought one and said to the chap When I come back with the missus for the bread you didn't seen me earlier . Ok he replied. Go back with missus , For about the first time ever she said to him , Oh he better have a Lardy cake. Bloke just about kept a straight face as he put it in a bag . I did confess later.

G.Harman

[Bob Eager]

Ours are from a very long established local baker.

Haha!

[tim...]

I don't know about the bread

but that's certainly the trick that they pull with their ready meals

tim

[Max Demian]

I find Weight Watchers ready meals quite substantial for dieting days, considering they are around 300 kcal.

[alan_m]

I've just checked the energy value per 100g against a no-name (Sugarland) brand of pastilles. The Rowntrees product with 30% less sugar has an energy figure only 6% below the competition. This suggest either the original Rowntrees product was very high in sugar content or the 30% reduction is solely relates to the smaller size pastille.

The list of ingredients on both products is comparable.