Aldi Farmwood Chicken Breast Chips | Chewsday Review

What do you get when you cross a chip with a nugget… Aldi’s Farmwood Chicken Breast Chips! Will these chip-shaped nuggets get an hen-ourable mention from me? Find out in today’s Chewsday review.

Ingredients

RSPCA Approved Chicken Breast (38%), Water, Crumb Coating (17%) {Potato Flakes [Potato, Emulsifiers (471, 330), Antioxidant (300)], Wheat Flour, Rice Flour, Salt, Vegetable Oil, Dextrose (From Wheat), Natural Colours (160c, 100)}, Wheat Flour, Wheat Gluten, Wheat Starch, Salt, Thickener (1404), Mineral Salts (450, 500, 451), Stabilisers (412, 415), Vegetable Oils, Tapioca Starch, Soy Protein, Dried Vegetables (Onion, Garlic), Natural Flavours, Yeast Extract.
Chicken breast only makes up 38% of the actual chicken chips, the rest (62%) is made up of the crumb coating, water, starch and oil.
Allergens: Gluten, Wheat, Soy

Positives

At $9.69 for a 1kg pack, the Chicken Breast Chips are an affordable option. They’re much cheaper than Steggles Tempura Chicken Dino Snacks ($13.50 per kg) and are similarly priced to other supermarket brand chicken nuggets ($10 to 11 per kg).
Saturated fat (1.7g per 100g) meets healthy guidelines, which is true for most chicken nuggets.
These contain no added sugar so the sugar content is low at 0.8g per 100g. Some chicken nuggets have added sugar to help golden the crumb and give the crumb a crispy texture.

Negatives

Farmwood Chicken Breast Chips are high in sodium at 630mg per 100g. Five chicken chips provides over 1.5 times a toddler’s recommended daily salt intake. This is higher than Steggles Chicken Dino Snacks 1kg pack (310mg per 100g) and Woolworths Chicken Breast Tempura Nuggets (297mg per 100g).
Chicken content is low at 38%. The chicken content in supermarket nuggets currently ranges from 34% to 59%, with Woolworths Crumbed Chicken Breast Nuggets 1kg pack claiming the top position (59%). Ideally, we’re aiming for chicken nuggets with a chicken content of at least 50%.

Marketing

Chicken nuggets in the shape of chips are the biggest marketing ploy here.
“Made with Australian chicken breast. No added hormones.” Given that all Australian chicken is free from hormones, this statement is a little misleading. Also, nuggets marketed as being ‘made with chicken breast’ don’t necessarily have a higher chicken content.
“No artificial colours. No artificial flavours. No added preservatives.” True, but this is pretty standard for most packaged products.
“Good source of protein.” Yes, these nuggets provide a reasonable amount of protein per serve. Although, most Australian kids eat enough protein to surpass their protein requirements.

Alternatives

Overall, these chicken nuggets are not my pick of choice due to the low chicken content and high sodium content.
Steggles Tempura Chicken Dino Snacks are a lower salt option with a higher chicken content, although more expensive.
For a more cost-effective, regular nugget-shape option, I’d go for Woolworths or Coles Chicken Breast Tempura Nuggets or Woolworths Chicken Breast Crumbed Nuggets in the small pack.
Chicken nuggets are a common safe food for kids, and can be used as a step towards eating crumbed or plain chicken.

The composition of food products changes regularly. The nutritional values of the products in this Chewsday Review were correct at the time of publishing.