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Yumi’s Classic Falafel | Chewsday Review

Ingredients

Positives

Being free from common allergens means they are suitable for the lunch box.
Hands up if your child likes hummus! Well, falafel is another way to offer chickpeas. Whole chickpeas are a choking risk for young children, so falafel (and hummus) are a more suitable way to offer chickpeas to babies and young toddlers. Be sure to read on for why I don’t recommend offering these before 12 months.
The saturated fat content is within guidelines (<3g per 100g) at only 1.1g per 100g. Total fat is above these guidelines, but this is coming from canola oil which is mostly unsaturated (good) fats.
These do not contain added sugar.

Negatives

Unfortunately these have quite a lot of added salt and a 75g serving (about 4 falafel balls) contains 420mg of sodium, which is more than double a baby’s daily salt allowance and about half of a toddler’s daily salt allowance. This amount of salt is fairly standard for store-bought falafel and falafel mixes, but homemade falafel can be made without salt.
They are a little costly at almost $25 per kg, but for a packet they are only $5.55. The cost isn’t outrageous for the convenience of not needing to make your own falafel. Woolworths Plantitude Falafel is a cheaper alternative at about $16 per kg.

Marketing

“Always gluten free”. Remember being gluten free doesn’t automatically mean something is better for you.
“Preservative free”. Technically yes, but salt can also be used as a preservative, so I’m not sold by this claim. There are also regulations around safe preservatives in Australia, so being preservative free doesn’t necessarily make this a superior product.
“Deliciously vegan”. I won’t argue with the delicious part, but falafel are traditionally made from chickpeas, herbs and spices, so I’d be pretty shocked if these weren’t vegan.

Alternatives

Overall these are a convenient way to offer falafel to your family, but they are too high in salt for young babies. For young toddlers I’d recommend being mindful of not serving other very salty foods on days when you offer these.
There are not many brands of store-bought falafel available, but generally they are similar nutritionally. I personally buy and enjoy this brand.
A homemade version (without salt) is more suitable for babies and young toddlers. Family Mealtime members can try Dr Gemma’s falafel-ish recipe.