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Nice and Natural Rocky Road Thins | Chewsday Review

It’s a muesli bar (kind of), a chocolate bar (kind of) and it has less than a teaspoon of sugar in each ‘thin’. Interesting. This week let’s take a closer look at Nice & Natural Rocky Road Thins.

Ingredients

Crisp Grains [Brown Rice Flour (Rice Flour, Rice Bran), Honey, Raisin Juice Concentrate, Salt], Milk Chocolate (16%) [Sugar, Cocoa Solids (Cocoa Butter, Cocoa Mass), Milk Solids, Emulsifier (Soy Lecithin), Natural Flavour], Cocoa Crisps [Soy Protein Isolate, Cocoa Powder, Tapioca Starch], Roasted Peanuts (12%), Glucose Syrup, Inulin, Marshmallows (4%) [Beef Gelatine, Natural Flavour, Colour (Carmine)], Berry Pieces (2.5%) [Ascorbic Acid, Pectin, Natural Flavours], Cocoa Mass, Glycerine, Natural Flavours, Sunflower Oil, Emulsifier [Soy Lecithin], Caramelised Sugar Syrup, Traces of Almond, Cashew.
Using brown rice flour instead of white rice flour will likely bump up the fibre.
Remember honey, raisin juice extract, glucose syrup and caramelised sugar syrup are all types of added sugar.
Allergens: milk, soy, peanuts, almonds and cashews
May contain: wheat (gluten), sesame and other tree nuts

Positives

For a small bar the fibre content is reasonable with 2g per bar, but not quite the 3g per serve we are aiming for. Higher fibre options include Carman’s Brownie Oat Muesli Bars with 4.4g of fibre per serve and Uncle Tobys Choc Chip Chewy Muesli Bars with 3.4g per serve.
These are fairly low in sodium with 262mg per 100g, but are actually higher than many other snack bars, like Carman’s Original Muesli Bars which only have 20mg of sodium per 100g.

Negatives

These are high in saturated fat, with 5g per 100g. This is more than Carman’s Brownie Oat Muesli Bars with only 3.7g saturated fat per 100g, but less than Messy Monkeys Chocolate Rice Puff Bars which have 9.4g per 100g.
These bars are high in added sugar with 19.8g per 100g (we are aiming for less than 15g). Carman’s Brownie Oat Muesli Bars are a lower sugar, but still chocolatey option, with only 7.7g per 100g sugar.
Pricewise they sit towards the top end for a snack bar at $5.75 for 6 bars (roughly 96c per bar), this is more than double the cost of Uncle Tobys Choc Chip Chewy bars.
The nuts mean these are not suitable for most school lunchboxes.

Marketing

Less than a teaspoon of sugar (4.2g) per bar, but this is because the bar is ‘thin’ – which in this context means tiny. Each bar weighs 20g, with sugar contributing 4.2g… Sneaky marketing!
Only 90 calories per bar. Again, these are tiny so it makes sense that the calories are low. I wouldn’t recommend choosing low calorie snacks for kids as they won’t keep them full for very long.
These have a 3-star health rating, which basically means they are in the middle of the pack compared to other snack bars.
Rainforest alliance certified: The cocoa in the product is sourced sustainably.

Alternatives

These are really just small muesli bars made from rice. They’re half the size of most Carman’s bars and two thirds the size of most Uncle Tobys bars.
There’s nothing ‘wrong’ with these but I’m not rushing out to buy them, and I can’t comment on the taste.
For a cheaper muesli bar, with more fibre and less added sugar I’d suggest Carman’s Brownie Oat Muesli Bars or Uncle Tobys Choc Chip Chewy Muesli Bars.