More Than Half Of ‘Healthy’ Snacks Contain High Salt, Sugar Or Fats: Survey
As indicated in a recent study, 55% of snacks promoted as ‘healthy’ snacks contain high levels of fat, sugar, and salt.
The survey suggests healthy snacks may not be what they seem. Photo: iStock
The inclination to eat a snack can be very overwhelming and can grow at some random time. Indeed, even the most cautious eaters gripe of yearning desires at odd hours. There are various healthy snacks accessible in the market today for everyone. These are supposed to be healthier than the sack of chips or crisps that one would often binge on.
Howbeit, a new study has uncovered that these purported ‘healthy’ snacks contain high amounts of salt, sugar, and fat. In all honesty, 55% of the products concentrated as a component of the review were high in salt, sugar, as well as fat.
Action on Salt UK reported these discoveries in a recent study as a component of its continuous Salt Awareness Week program from eighth to fourteenth March 2021. As a component of the study, 119 dried and cooked snacks were examined by the Action in Salt exploration group based at Queen Mary University in London. Although these low-fat foods are high in fat and calories, almost 43% are salty. They also found that these snacks could be made with less salt, as shown in the data map considering salty snacks more than their non-salty counterparts.
The study also established that 81% of products had a nutritional claim on their packaging, such as “low fat” or “no sugar added”. Almost all of the products identified in the study claim to be “gluten-free”, “vegan” or “no artificial defenses”. According to government guidelines, most products do not display colorful dietary information.
Most products include nutrition instructions on the packaging. This is legal, but it creates false “health barriers” by preventing consumers from inspecting ingredients in more detail, thereby misleading consumers.
The researchers are calling for a restriction on the use of health claims and misleading nutrition facts on the snacks marketed as being healthy. The campaign Manager, Sonia Pombo stated that this vital study has put a highlight on the superfluous sums of salt in ‘healthy’ snacks, and the use of nutritional claims on HFSS nourishments should be addressed. Rather than deceiving their customers, companies ought to be doing all they can to assist us all to make more educated choices, counting utilizing front-of-pack color-coded names.
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