LENTIL chips may actually be one of the least healthy supermarket crisp options, an eye-opening analysis has revealed.
The probe, by champion consumer Which?, assessed the nutritional content of 66 popular crisps and savoury snacks sold in UK supermarkets.
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A Which? investigation has revealed the least unhealthy crisp options in UK supermarkets
The analysis surprisingly found that some lentil crisps are not a particularly healthy option Credit: Getty
They looked at five categories – saturated fat, salt, sugar, fibre and protein – to track down the least healthy options.
Results showed that the lowest scoring crisps were some of the nation’s lunchtime favourites, including Jacob’s Mini Cheddars and Proper Chips Barbecue Lentil Chips.
Skips, Wotsits Really Cheesy and Frazzles Crispy Bacon also achieved a low score.
Shockingly, Which? found that more than half (55 per cent) of the products audited failed the government’s criteria of what is seen as healthy.
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The investigation shockingly found that more than half of the tested products failed the government’s criteria Credit: Getty
Shefalee Loth, nutritionist at Which?, said: “We all know crisps aren’t the healthiest snack, but our audit shows some can be a much healthier option than others.
“However, it is concerning to see that many childhood favourites are actually some of the least healthy options on the shelf.”
The analysis used the government’s 2004 Nutrient Profile Model (NPM) to assess the nutritional composition of all 66 products.
This is the same system used to decide whether foods are high in fat, salt or sugar (HFSS) and therefore restricted from prime advertising slots and in-store promotions.
Under the model, products are scored out of 100 on both positive nutrients, such as fibre and protein, and negatives, including sugar, saturated fat and calories.
Anything scoring 62 or below fails the NPM test and is seen as unhealthy.
Astoundingly, 34 of the 66 crisps and snacks assessed scored below this threshold – that’s more than half.
The bottom three were Mini Cheddars Original (20), Proper Chips Barbecue Lentil Chips (36), and Skips (36).
Jacob’s Mini Cheddars were found to contain 14.4g of saturated fat per 100g – far more than any other option.
They also have a high (2.4g per 100g) salt and low fibre (2.6g per 100g) content.
Crisps aisle in a Sainsburys supermarket, UK Credit: Alamy
Having excess salt in your system leads to water retention in the blood, which can raise your blood pressure.
Unfortunately, this can in turn raise the risk of a potentially fatal heart attack or stroke.
Other crisps that came in with a low score were Wotsits Really Cheesy (36), Frazzles Crispy Bacon (38) and Quavers Cheesy (38).
Popular childhood snacks Hula Hoops and Pom-Bears also fared badly – coming in at 46 and 54 respectively.
Which? found that some snacks seen as “healthy” – such as lentil and vegetable crisps – surprisingly failed the NPM test.
They noticed that some of these products relied heavily on salt to make them more palatable, which compromised their nutritional value.
The analysis, however, wasn’t all bad news.
It found that many other crisps did pass the NPM test by cleverly balancing out negative and positive nutrients.
Kettle Chips lightly salted got top place with 74 out of 100 – they had the lowest sugar levels of the entire dataset, and the salt levels were also significantly lower than many other crisps.
Perhaps less surprisingly, Holland & Barrett carrot & beetroot chips also earned the high score of 72.
The analysis did show that not all crisps are bad and some are much healthier options than others Credit: Alamy
What to look out for when crisp shopping
Which? provided some other guidance to follow when crisp shopping.
Do not rely on cooking method labelling:
Which? found that ‘baked’ isn’t a guarantee of health, while ‘fried’ doesn’t necessarily mean unhealthy
For example, Monster Munch and Wotsits say ‘Baked not fried’ on the packaging even though they are also NPM fails
However, Twiglets, Jattvibebites and Walkers Oven Baked range are examples of healthier baked goods from the dataset
Although frying can lead to high fat levels, some companies such as Tyrrells use a special centrifuge technique to remove excess oil, resulting in some fried products that achieve higher health scores
Do not assume ‘healthier options’ are actually healthy:
While two lentil crisp products scored a high pass at 72 (Tyrrells lentil crisps), three also failed, with scores between 36 and 48 out of 100. Two quinoa chip products also didn’t fare well at 48
Eat Real veggie straws (tomato, kale and spinach flavour) also only achieved 48 points
Check salt levels:
Check the ingredients for salt levels per 100g. Officially, low salt is equivalent to 0.3g or less, medium is 0.3g to 1.5g, and high salt is more than 1.5g
In the dataset, the healthiest all have salt levels no higher than around 1.1g per 100g, whereas the ones that failed were between 1.84g and 2.55g per 100g – well into the high salt bracket
Of the 36 failing crisps, 26 were found to contain more than 1.5g of salt per 100g
Source: Which?
Other notable examples of healthier options were Jattvibebites (70), Twiglets (70) and Walkers Sensations, both Balsamic vinegar and caramelised onion (70) as well as the Thai sweet chilli flavour (68).
Shefalee Loth, nutritionist at Which?, said: “Look for the front-of-pack traffic light labels to easily spot the healthier greens and ambers over the high-salt and high-fat reds.”
Which? is now calling on the government to make front-of-pack traffic light labelling mandatory across all food and drink products.
Shefalee added: “Consumers shouldn’t need a degree in nutrition just to understand what’s in their shopping basket; we need a compulsory system so everyone can see exactly what they are buying.”
