• Diced young coconut (20%) - At 20% this means you get 24g of coconut meat, which is great. Coconut is a good food because you get protein, fibre, vitamins C, B6, calcium, iron and magnesium. The coconut in here tastes fresh and firm.
• White rice (6%) - Brown rice would be better for nutritional reasons but white rice is traditional for a pudding such as this. Rice is a complex carbohydrate which means it takes longer to break down in the body, therefore it releases energy slower. So you're better off eating rice like this than, say, a couple of slices of white bread.
• Sugar - This isn't too bad - 12.6g or three teaspoons of sugar per serve. That's 10.5% of the food.
• Vanilla flavour - This will probably be artificial flavour.
• Stabilisers (339, 407) - These are sodium phosphate (339) and carrageenan (407) which is obtained from seaweed.
They will both be in here to keep the texture of the rice pudding correct.
My recommendations
These little rice puddings pack quite a nutritious punch.
There's complex carbohydrates for energy spread out over time, rather than a short, sharp hit from refined carbohydrates. There's also calcium and protein for growing kids, and they're low in fat.
Yes, there is sugar, but it's far less than you'd find in some yoghurts and I appreciated that the makers of this food didn't go overboard with the coconut flavouring. They've just let the pieces of raw coconut speak for themselves.
I think this is a great afternoon snack for starving kids after school. I'm not sure if they'd eat it unheated on the side of a sports field but you could always try.
Highlights
• 20% raw coconut chunks.
• 3 teaspoons of sugar per serve.
• Low in fat with complex carbohydrates.
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