Aldi Chewy Choc Chip Muesli Bars | Chewsday Review
I'm sure you've seen the reports that Aldi is so much cheaper than Coles and Woolies, so this week we're comparing a popular muesli bar against the big brands and home brands to see who boasts the most oats.
- Wholegrains (54%) [Oats, Wholegrain Cereal Crisps (Rye, Wheat)], Glucose Syrup, Polydextrose Liquid, Milk Compound Chocolate (8%) {Sugar, Vegetable Oil, Milk Solids, Alkalised Cocoa Powder, Emulsifiers [492. 322 (From Soy)], Natural Flavour}, Vegetable Oil, Desiccated Coconut [Contains Preservative (223 or 220)], Invert Sugar, Humectant (422), Emulsifier (322 From Soy), Cocoa Extract, Natural Flavours, Caramelised Sugar, Natural Colour (160b).
- Glucose syrup, invert sugar, and caramelised sugar are all types of added sugar.
- Polydextrose liquid is a type of fibre that’s often added to foods to help boost the fibre content.
- Allergens: Wheat, Milk, Soy and Sulphites
- May contain: Peanuts, Sesame, Egg and Tree Nuts
- While these do contain some added sugar, the sugar content is 12g per 100g so still within recommendations, and coming to about a teaspoon (3.8g) of sugar per bar. This is similar to most Carman’s muesli bars. Uncle Tobys version and Coles and Woolies’ home brand options are all higher in added sugar at 17.2g, 19.5g and 18.7g of sugar per 100g, respectively.
- These are low in sodium (22mg per 100g), as I would expect for a sweet snack.
- The fibre content is decent with one bar providing 4g fibre, or 30% of a younger child’s and 20% of a school aged child’s recommended daily fibre intake.
- These are definitely a cheaper option at only $2.49 for 6 bars ($0.41each), compared to Carman’s ($1.25 each) or Uncle Toby’s ($0.92 each).
- Total fat (14.5g per 100g) and saturated fat (5.3g per 100g) are higher than recommendations. This comes mostly from the milk solids, vegetable oil, and desiccated coconut. Uncle Tobys Chewy Choc Chip Muesli Bars have a slightly lower saturated fat content (4.2g per 100g), with the apricot flavour being lower still (1.9g per 100g).
- “High in wholegrain.” This is true and they contain more than 16g of wholegrains as per the Grains & Legumes Nutrition Council. This is equivalent to 54% of the bar being wholegrains (a mix of oats and other cereals), which seems to be one of the higher wholegrain muesli bars as most tend to be closer to 45% oats and/or other cereals. Carman’s bars are another top contender with some varieties being as high as 54% oats.
- “No artificial colours or flavours.” True.
- “Good source of dietary fibre.” Yep, the fibre content is impressive.
- It seems Carman’s bars boast the most oats! But these Aldi muesli bars have the equivalent amount of wholegrains, so contain a decent amount of fibre and are similar in terms of sugar. They’re also a much cheaper option than big brands, and only a teeny bit more expensive than home brands.
- Uncle Tobys Chewy Apricot Muesli Bars or Carman’s Muesli Bars are slightly lower in saturated fat but are more than double the cost, so if your family prefer those you’ll definitely want to keep an eye out for supermarket sales.
- If you’d like some more help navigating the snack food aisle members in Toddler Mealtimes and Family Mealtimes have access to more supermarket snack recommendations.
The composition of food products changes regularly. The nutritional values of the products in this Chewsday Review were correct at the time of publishing.
