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Fine Fettle Flats | Chewsday Review

Fine Fettle Flats claim to be real fresh veg squished into snacks. Will the most expensive cracker I’ve ever reviewed stack up, or will it fall flat?

Ingredients

Positives

These crackers are high in fibre thanks to the variety of seeds they contain. One serving provides 3.5g of fibre, which is almost 20% of a young child’s daily fibre needs.
Fine Fettle Flats are dairy and gluten-free, providing an allergy alternative. Having said that, most rice crackers and Corn Thins do not contain dairy or gluten, so it’s not adding anything ground-breaking to the market.
Sugar content is within guidelines. It’s slightly higher than I would expect in a savoury product, but not a concern as it comes from fruit rather than added sugar.
The packaging is very aesthetically pleasing. This is probably my favourite thing about this product, which says a lot!

Negatives

These crackers are flat out expensive! At $7.50 per 80g box (or $94 per kg), they’re more than 3 times the price of other wholegrain crackers.
Salt (sodium) is above recommendations at 491mg per 100g. There are lots of high fibre crackers on the market which meet this target.
Fine Fettle Flats are high in total fat at 30g per 100g, but this is from the high unsaturated fat (good fat) in the hemp, linseeds and sesame seeds it contains. Saturated fat is only very slightly above guidelines so I am not concerned.
These are trickier to track down than your everyday cracker – they’re only stocked at selected Coles and independent retailers.

Marketing

“100% natural cracker-like snacks, packed with vegetables and squished flat”. I can’t argue that the vegetables have been squished until they’re unrecognisable! And I’m glad they’ve said ‘cracker-like’, as the texture lacks the characteristic crunch I’d hope for in a cracker.
“Squish more vegetables into your life”. I don’t love this concept, especially for kids. There is more benefit of regularly offering kids vegetables that look, smell and taste like vegetables, instead of trying to hide them in other foods.
“Things these crackers can do: share a big bowl with friends”. You might have some very hungry friends with a packet this tiny.
“Classic raw”. This product is dehydrated, meaning that it’s cooked without oil at a low temperature… I wouldn’t really classify this as raw. There is no evidence to show that raw or dehydrated foods are more nutritious, and in fact some nutrients in fruit and vegetables are more readily available when cooked.
“All natural yumness”. Another ‘natural is best’ claim combined with a made up word – need I say more?

Alternatives

There aren’t any major issues with Fine Fettle Flats from a nutrition perspective, but they certainly don’t give you bang for your buck. If you’re after a seeded cracker, Olina’s Seeded Snackers are a cheaper alternative which provide a similar amount of fibre.
Other great cracker options include Sakata or Peckish wholegrain rice crackers, Real Foods Multigrain Corn Thins or Ryvita which provide a similar amount (or more) fibre for roughly a quarter of the price, leaving change to buy some real vegetables!