Snack bar survey - not as healthy as you may think

Photo / Sylvie Whinray

If you think you're giving your kids healthy food by putting a snack bar in their lunch box, think again.

A Consumer NZ survey of 35 snack bars found most were high in sugar and many had high levels of saturated fat.

Consumer NZ chief executive Sue Chetwin says many snack bars are high-energy and shouldn't be considered for everyday eating.

Kellogg's Nutri-Grain Bar Original, which was more than a third sugar and contained high levels of saturated fat, came bottom of the survey with one star out of five under the voluntary new health star rating system.

The star system is based on nutrient-profiling criteria developed by Food Standards Australia New Zealand.

Ms Chetwin advised consumers to look for snack bars with less than 600 kilojoules per bar - about the equivalent of a banana.

Seventeen bars in the survey packed more than 600 kilojoules. The Bumper Bar Apricot Chocolate had 1420.

Snack bars rating four stars or more:

• Quaker Nut Bar Macadamia & Apricot - 4.5 stars

• Tasti Milkies Choc Strawberry - 4 stars

• Be Natural Trail Bars Nut & Fruit - 4 stars

• Weight Watchers Apple Crumble - 4 stars.

- AAP