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Mamia Strawberry Fruit & Oat Bars | Chewsday Review

This week we’re taking a bite out of Aldi’s Mamia Strawberry Fruit & Oat Bars. So let’s find out - are these bars a berry good snack, or just oat of their depth? Let’s unwrap the facts.

Ingredients

Fruit paste (62%) (sultanas, pear puree concentrate, apple juice concentrate, strawberry puree concentrate, apple fibre, elderberry juice concentrate), oat products (27%) [oat bran, oatmeal (oat), rolled oats], rice flour, sunflower oil, natural strawberry flavour.
For a strawberry flavoured product, I’m disappointed that these bars contain more sultanas than strawberries, and the only source of strawberry is a strawberry puree concentrate instead of whole fruit.
Fruit juice concentrate is essentially juice with most of the water removed, so can be a sneaky way for manufacturers to add sweetness without listing sugar as an ingredient.
Allergens: Gluten.
May contain: Almond, hazelnut, soy.

Positives

These snack bars are within our guidelines for total fat at 9.2g per 100g, and saturated fat at 1.3g per 100g.
They also meet our guidelines for sodium, at only 6mg per 100g, which is expected for a sweet snack.
Although fibre isn’t listed on the packaging, I would expect the fibre content to be reasonable due to the bars containing 27% oat products.
At $2.69 for a box of 6 which works out at about $0.45 per bar, these are another Aldi bargain that come in at almost the same price as Coles Cub Bars and slighltly less than Heinz Little Kids Fruit Salad Yoghurt Muesli Fingers ($0.67 per bar). Little Bellies Apricot Date & Oat Bars are a pricier option at $0.93 per bar, but have a higher percentage of fruit and are made from whole fruit rather than fruit pastes or concentrates.

Negatives

Marketing

Alternatives

Snack bars can be a convenient option for on-the-go, but these Mamia Fruit & Oat Bars wouldn’t be my first choice due to their low fruit content. Little Bellies Apricot, Date & Oat Bars are an alternative option made with whole fruit.
Other options could be a piece of fresh fruit, a handful of dried fruit or some yoghurt. You could also try my Peanut Butter and Apricot Slice, Raspberry Oat Slice, or Banana Bread Balls.