4 Oct 2014

Snack bars 'not everyday eating'

12:05 pm on 4 October 2014

Consumer New Zealand says many snack bars should not be considered everyday eating.

Consumer said only nine out of 35 snack bars rated well under the new voluntary health star-rating system introduced in June, in a recently-published report.

Packaged foods are rated from half a star to five stars, and Consumer said only four of the 35 snack bars tested got four stars or more.

The Quaker Nut Bar was the highest-rated bar with four and a half stars, as the consumer watchdog found it had less saturated fat, sugar and sodium, and contained a reasonable amount of fibre.

At the bottom of the table with just one star was Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Bar, which was found to have high levels of saturated fat; more than a third of it is sugar; and it is low in fibre.

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