Wolfe Gourmet Cakes

4 Most popular sweets you and your family should avoid

ALLEN`S Party Mix

It’s the done thing these days for confectionery to stress their fat free status. Sure they’re ‘99% fat free’, but these ALLEN’S sweets – like most sweets – give you a lot of kilojoules in a small portion which doesn’t make you feel full. And all that sugar can contribute to tooth decay.

Are we the only ones to see the irony in putting the following message on a pack of sweet treats?: ‘proper nutrition and physical activity are important in maintaining good health.’

Additives listed: thickener (1401 or 1420), food acids (330, 270), colours (122, 102, 129, 110, 133, 124).

ARNOTT`S Tiny Teddy – Chocolate

ARNOTT’S Tiny Teddies Chocolate are little teddy bear-shaped biscuits with kiddy-appeal. Predictably they’re quite sweet, but what may come as a surprise is the red light they get for saturated fat and the amber light for sodium (salt).

With ARNOTT’S Tiny Teddies Chocolate it’s all about portion control. The 250g box means they can eat as much or as little as you want them to. The recommended serve of 13 biscuits provides less than a teaspoon of fat and a little under two teaspoons of sugar. ARNOTT’S Tiny Teddies Chocolate also come in muti packs which will help you to limit the number of biscuits that they eat.

But regardless how few you have, ARNOTT’S Tiny Teddies Chocolate, like any other sweet biscuits, should be kept as occasional snacks only.

Additives listed: soy lecithin (322), colour (caramel III 150c).

ARNOTT’S Milk Arrowroot

ARNOTT’S Milk Arrowroot biscuits have been available since 1888. At the turn of the century, arrowroot was a common source of starch, and according to the manufacturer, “Milk Arrowroot soon becaume the food of choice for Australian mothers and their children as it was easily digestible. It was often crushed and served with milk as a way to start babies on solids. Then as kids grew up, it was packed as a sandwich in school lunch boxes.”

These days, it’s packaging highlights that the biscuits contain no artificial colours, flavours or preservatives. But at the end of the day, Milk Arrowroot biscuits are simply that – biscuits – made from flour, sugar and a few other basic ingredients. As with any sweet biscuits, they’re for occasional treats only.

Additives listed: none.

OREO Milk Chocolate Wafer Sticks

There’s not much good to be said about OREO Wafer Sticks in the nutrition stakes, but at least they’re not claiming to be healthy. Probably the only thing going for them is their small size. But even then, just one 18g bar contains more than 13% of the total amount of saturated fat that’s acceptable for an eight-year-old to have in a day.

OREO Wafer Sticks are for occasional treats only.

Additives listed: emulsifiers (soy lecithin 476), antioxidant (319), colour (150d), soy lecithin (322), raising agent (500).