McCain Crispy Cauliflower Fries | Chewsday Review
Hmmm.. with cauliflower in the name, you might expect a veggie boost – but is there more to the story? Let’s dig in.
- Cauliflower (43%), potato, potato flakes, wheat flour, onion, vegetable oil, maize starch, water, salt, vegetable gum (461), sugar, citrus fibre, glucose
syrup, raising agent (500), onion powder, garlic powder, spice, yeast. - Cauliflower is the first ingredient, but it’s interesting to see that potato flakes and potatoes are listed separately in the ingredients list. Food companies have to list ingredients in order of the amount in the food (from highest to lowest) and I suspect when combined, there is more potato than cauliflower in these cauliflower chips.
- I’m not worried about any of the other ingredients used here – they’re used to improve the texture and to add extra flavour.
- Allergens: gluten, wheat.
- May contain: eggs, milk, soy.
- The total fat (9.1g per 100g) and saturated fat (1.2g per 100g) are within our guidelines, although they are higher than some regular potato fries, like McCain Straight Cut Superfries which have 3.6g per 100g of total fat and 0.3g per 100g of saturated fat.
- I’m impressed to see these have as much cauliflower as they do. One serve of these chips offers more than ½ a serve of vegetables.
- The sodium in these chips falls within our guidelines at 294mg per 100g, although this is higher than the sodium content of other frozen chips like McCain Straight Cut Superfries (43mg per 100g).
- At 2.7g per serve, the fibre in these chips is just below our target.
- Although the sugar content still comes in well under our target at 3.2g per 100g, I’m a bit surprised that these cauliflower chips have added sugar, which isn’t usually found in frozen potato chips.
- ‘Source of fibre’ – True.
- ‘Vegetarian friendly’ – No meat in these, but any regular vegetable fries are vegetarian.
- I’m impressed by the cauliflower content of these fries. Although they meet my targets, they’re higher in saturated fat, added sugar and sodium than regular frozen potato fries, so you can confidently choose the chips that your family enjoys.
- I don’t recommend hiding vegetables in your child’s food as this often backfires, but these cauliflower fries could be an option to add variety if your little one enjoys potato fries. If you’d like more support with helping your child learn to like veggies, check out my Toddler Mealtimes or Family Mealtimes memberships.
The composition of food products changes regularly. The nutritional values of the products in this Chewsday Review were correct at the time of publishing.
