Naughty but nice: Healthy lunchbox treats for sweet tooths

Kids enjoying lunch. Photo / 123rf

When it comes to our palates, kids tend to lean towards sweetness. So to fill those lunchboxes and keep everyone happy, here are three Kiwi-made treats with a happy, healthy twist.

Datella natural spread

Switch up your spreads with NZ-made Datella – a sweet spread that is lower in sugar than more mainstream sweet toast toppings. It's also perfect for baking, or add a spoon to your morning smoothie. Datella, made by a tiny NZ start-up, is vegan, nut-free and gluten-free, and available in four flavours including chocolate and mixed spice. In retailers around NZ, $8.99. See eatdatella.com for more.

Datella date spread. Photo / Supplied

Fresh Life raw slices

Here's the easiest hack for a homemade slice ever – Fresh Life's raw slices come in four pre-mixed flavours including a caramel slice and lemon. All you need to do is open the pack, add coconut oil, mix, then leave to set in the fridge. Each slice makes 8 tiny but rich and delicious servings – perfect with an afternoon cup of tea and quite hard to resist when you open the fridge door. The packet even doubles up as the tray – easy as. $7.50, from Countdown. freshlifefood.co.nz

Fresh Life's raw slices. Photo / Supplied

Noughty drinks for kids

Perfect for lunchboxes or an after school treat, Noughty's natural sodas for kids come in lemonade, cola and apple flavours. These lightly sparkling drinks are free from added sugars and boosted with calcium, vitamin C and vitamin D. The Noughty cola, for example, is sweetened with apple juice, and contains only 2.4g of sugar (and of course is free of caffeine). livenoughty.com

Noughty's natural soda for kids. Photo / Supplied