Kev's Snack Reviews

I've tried the regular version of Jim Jams No Added Sugar spread before and really enjoyed it, so was excited to try these new vegan varieties they launched recently to see how they compared. They come in both Hazelnut and Orange dark chocolate flavour, with no added sugar. Instead they contain maltitol which is a sweetener many may be aware of.  Whilst I have always been wary of maltitol due to its "unintended effects" I realise like anything it's a case of moderation. So I tried not to go overboard eating this! The Dark chocolate orange variety is pretty good with a nice chocolate orange flavour. A bit like the dark version of Terrys Chocolate Orange in spread form, perhaps! Although it was nice it didn't wow me enough with the flavour to purchase again. It needs a bit more zing for my liking. The Hazelnut one is an absolute winner though, it's every bit as rich as Nutella and perhaps even more nutty, it lacks the same level of intense sw...

So in the midst of this heatwave what did I do? Buy chocolate! Only because it’s new and only in the name of research, you understand ;) This new Cadbury Dairy Milk 30% Less Sugar is available from Sainsbury’s and costs £1.00 for an 85g bar. Obviously with this hot weather, it went squishy in my bag so I waited until I got home and popped it in the fridge to firm up again...  Hence the slightly melted appearance! But chocolate is chocolate so I just got stuck right in... The pieces are a little thinner than a regular bar of Dairy Milk, more akin to Milka bars. The aroma is an interesting sweet almost milkshake like smell. Intriguing!   The taste is interesting and actually surprised me to be honest. The ingredients list soluble maize fibre which is presumably how they’ve reduced the sugar content. So it also has extra fibre in compared to a regular Dairy Milk bar. Taste wise it's definitely lighter than a regular Dairy Milk, a bit less sweet but it still ha...

Tango has had a bit of a rebrand recently, and added two new sugar free varieties to its range: Tropical and Strawberry and Watermelon, which is today's review. People have been talking a lot about it over on Instagram - it seems that adding watermelon to drinks increases excitement levels by at least 50%! ;) Maybe melon will be the new Unicorn Trend, which might not be such a bad thing... I bought this 600ml bottle from Poundland from the chiller section. There's also a can version there (along with Tropical, Cherry and Orange flavours) on the three for £1 deal, plus most supermarkets now sell multipacks of cans and large bottles. I used my fancy Root 7 glass to drink it from - let's take a moment to appreciate just how cool this glass is! (I've lost count of how many times people ask me about it on Instagram). Being a sugar free drink this of course contains artificial sweeteners, which are acesulfame k and sucralose. Not the best things in the world - I do wi...

Following my review of The Skinny Food Co #NotGuilty Hazelnut Spread , today it's a review for their savoury Skinny Sauces, which come in three flavours; Sweet Chilli, Tomato Ketchup and South West Sauce. These are available from The Skinny Food Co's website:  https://theskinnyfoodco.com/ The sauces contain zero carbs, zero dairy, zero gluten, zero calories, zero sugar and zero fat...so are suitable for a wide range of dietary requirements indeed! Instead of all the above, what do they contain I hear you ask? The South West Sauce is a mixture of tomato, citrus fibre, xanthan gum, spirit vinegar, mustard, spices, and the sweetener sucralose. So that's about the only true artificial thing in it, whether that's good or not I suppose depends on your feelings on artificial sweeteners. Personally I'd prefer stevia since it's more natural, but the world isn't ready for stevia sauce just yet I guess! This sauce is certainly very tasty, with a sweet, ...

A big thankyou to Ape Snacks for today's review, they kindly reached out and offered me some samples from their new range of Coconut & Rice Puffs to try, and as a big fan of their snacks I certainly wasn't going to say no! The last new product they launched were the Chocolate Crunchy Coconut Bites I reviewed over Summer, but I had no idea they had plans to further expand their range. So it was a lovely surprise to see these new Coconut & Rice puffs appear recently! They're like a healthy, vegan, gluten free version of puffed maize snacks without added sugar, vegetable oils, dairy or artificial flavourings - just clean ingredients! You can buy them from Ape Snacks website , plus they're available from Sainsbury's, Ocado.com and WH Smiths. I thought I'd start with the Cheese Flavour, which is special because it's actually dairy free and vegan friendly! How is that possible I hear you ask?! Well, like many cheesy flavoured crisps it uses yeast extr...

A big thanks to The Skinny Food Co for sending me a variety of products to try recently; if you've never heard of them before they produce a wide range of low sugar/sugar free sauces, syrups and spreads that are suitable for various allergies as well as low in fat and calories. Today's review is for their Chocaholic Skinny Spread, which is a low-sugar take on Nutella made with sweeteners like maltitol and stevia. Eek - the dreaded maltitiol! This is definitely not a product to eat in excess! ;) As well as sweeteners this contains 10% hazelnut paste, vegetable oils, whey and milk powder and cocoa. It's recommended to enjoy it in porridge, smoothies, pancakes, fruit and baking. Opening the lid, I was immediately hit with the strong aroma of Nutella...it smelled just like the real thing, perhaps even better! The spread had clumped to one side due to being sent through the post and refrigerated, so after taking pics I let it settle at room temperature for a bit. This all...

Just a quick heads up on some important snacks news today...Cadbury are going to launch a new 30% Less Sugar version of Dairy Milk! Strangely, it won't be available until 2019 so don't get too excited. The new bars are not replacing the regular variety but are an alternative for those wishing to reduce their sugar intake. They will not be made with artificial sweeteners, but added fibres instead. Personally I think it's a pointless exercise, if you're eating Dairy Milk in the first place you probably aren't too concerned with your sugar intake, and a 30% reduction is hardly a lot.  As well as the new Dairy Milk, Cadbury are also launching a "Boost + Protein" bar, aimed at gym bunnies in need of an extra source. Luckily they'll be available this year so you won't have to wait too long to try them! Let me know your thoughts in the comments...do you want to see reduced sugar versions of your favourite chocolate bars or would you prefer a ...

I reviewed Vita Coco Original Coconut Milk last year when they launched it, and am quite a big fan of it now. I buy it whenever it's on special offer and prefer it to most nut or rice based milks, as the taste is fresh and the consistency pretty similar to regular milk. However Vita Coco have brought out a new "Light" version, meaning it is lower in fat. It seems a bit unneccesary to me, but I know people are still concerned about fat even in natural products, so I can see there's a demand for it. I picked up this bottle for £2 on special offer in Waitrose recently. There is half the fat in this version compared to the Original, so the consistency is of course thinner and the taste is not as creamy. I found it very refreshing, just like the original version, but I still much prefer the original. And there's not really much to say about it other than that...it's good for those watching their fat intake I suppose, although IMO I don't think there's ...

When I'm avoiding sugar I do like a good 100% cocoa dark chocolate bar. They're hard to find in most shops, but luckily thanks to Sainsbury's the Montezuma's Absolute Black is becoming widely available - handy for anyone on a low carb diet. But now M&S are here to challenge it with their own version of 100% cocoa chocolate, a Single Origin Fairtrade bar made in Peru. This bar costs £2 for 100g and is available in most of their larger stores. There's a Taste Profile inside the case, which mentions notes of red fruits and honey, as well as a whisky that pairs well this chocolate. Steady on M&S, are you trying to get me drunk?! Make no mistake about it, this is a very, very dark chocolate and one that I imagine is just too much for most folks. It's intense, and has that fruity acidic flavour that is common with unsweetened chocolate. The description of red berry flavours is quite accurate; this does indeed taste strongly of berries, and is quite com...

Today's review is somewhat more healthy than usual, since I've been on a bit of a health kick again recently. I'm a fan of toasted coconut chips to help  stay away from chocolate bars, however my major gripe is usually the price - they almost always cost a lot for a small amount! That was no exception with this new variety from M&S, which costs £1.20 for a little pot. Still I thought I'd give it a try to see how it compares to the likes of Ape Coconut Curls and Urban Fruit Coconut Chips . Unlike most toasted coconut chips these ones still have some of the shell on them, which may be a good thing or not depending on you. I suppose if you're looking for extra fibre it's a plus, but it certainly doesn't make them tastier. They were a bit tasteless to be honest. They were very fresh, I'll give them that, but there was no real toasty flavour. It's almost like they were too scared to toast them too much so they ended up somewhere in between regu...

Whilst in Tesco recently I spotted a rather new and unusual flavour of Sprite and must admit I had to do a double take - "Does that say cucumber?!" I thought. Yes, indeed it did, and as a new flavour I had to give it a try in the name of snacks science! This variety is available in multipacks of cans or large 2 litre bottles in both Tesco and Morrisons. I went for the bottle which cost a pretty reasonable £1. The ingredients consist of fizzy water, sweeteners, citric acid and natural flavourings. I'm not usually a fan of drinks like this due to the artificial sweeteners, but we can let that slide once in a while right? Opening the bottle I was met with a cucumber aroma that wasn't really enticing...in fact my reaction was "ewww!" But nevertheless I took a sip, and after the initial faint cucumber flavour disappeared I was met with the traditional sweet lemon and lime Sprite flavour. It's actually not too bad at all and is rather refreshing - I ce...

Recently I read an article in The Grocer about Nim's Fruit Crisps and how they've become so popular they're now being sold in Tesco stores. After spotting some in my local Tesco Express I thought I'd give them a whirl to see what all the fuss is about. They're described as 100% natural, with no added sugar or sweetener, air dried rather than fried and are made in the UK. They're gluten free, dairy free, suitable for vegans, and certified as one of your portions of fruit and veg per day. I can't remember the exact price these were, but it was around £1 or so which is quite a bit for 22g of crisps, so I was hoping they'd be worth it! Opening the bag, I tipped them into a bowl. They looked a bit like fried courgettes, or maybe it's just me?  It was obvious these were 100% natural going by appearances - honestly, they didn't look so great haha! I've tried things like this before - such as Morrisons Carrot Crisps - so with these being fruit...

Today's review (and upcoming reviews) are specially thanks to the makers of Perfect World ice creams, a company specializing in vegan, sugar and gluten free ice creams that are suitable for pretty much any dietary needs. I first reviewed the brand a few years ago with the Taste Of Carrot Cake Ice Cream, and since then they have totally revamped their range, removing egg from the ingredients and adding new flavours such as Raspberry Ripple, Mint Choc Chip, Sweet Espresso, Pistachio, Double Chocolate Chip and this...the delightful Caramel Pecan! With only 4.7g of natural sugars and 423 calories in a tub, this ice cream is completely vegan and dairy free and made with a mixture of coconut milk, cashew nuts, vegetable fibre and the sweeteners xylitol, erythritol and stevia. It's also high in 12 vitamins and minerals, making it a truly healthy ice cream indeed! As impressive as all that is though it would mean nothing if it didn't taste good...so does it? I would shout ...

Just a quick review today, and it's one for those who may be reducing or cutting out the sugar what with the news of the UK Sugar Tax coming into force. Most chocolate bars using sweeteners can often taste chemically or just "wrong", so how does Plamil's So Free Espresso bar fare? Made with xylitol, a natural sweetener derived from birch, I found this bar in Holland and Barrett. It contains 72% cocoa solids, is gluten free, dairy free and suitable for vegans. The bar has small segments you can break off. I went for the espresso variety simply because I was in need of an energy boost, and although the coffee only comes from flavouring I reasoned the placebo effect might still give me a boost! And it was just what I needed for a sweet coffee hit. The chocolate gives a rich flavour, with the coffee lingering in the aftertaste whilst the xylitol makes it sweet enough to be palatable. It's not the same as sugar of course, and it does take a little getting used...

Today it's Part 2 of my Kind bar reviews, and this time it's their new Pomegranate, Blueberry & Pistachio Bar (click here for the Dark Chocolate Almond & Mint Review ). Consisting of 55% nuts, this bar is gluten and dairy free, although not vegan since it contains honey. It's described as a "40g Pistachio, Blueberry & Pomegranates Bar" and contains cashews as well as almonds, dried fruit and rice crisps. I have to say the combination of blueberries, cranberries and pomegranates works really well! This is a very fruity bar indeed, perfectly suited to the Summer weather. The pistachios go well with the berries, mingling to create an exotic taste. As much as I enjoyed the Dark Almond Mint variety I would say this one was even nicer - the fruits really steal the show! A delicious bar that also happens to be healthy, who'd have thought it? Overall, this is another win from Kind Snacks, who really are shaping up to be masters in the healthy sna...

A huge thanks to Kind Snacks UK for sending me some of their new bars to review recently, which includes a Pomegrante, Blueberry & Pistachio bar plus today's review: Dark Chocolate Almond & Mint, a bit of a different flavour for a healthy snack bar! Kind bars are all gluten free, dairy free and made with ingredients you can see and pronounce. This particular bar contains a whopping 60% nuts, a lot more than the dried fruits that most healthy snack bars are based on. Described as a "40g Almond & Mint bar with dark chocolate mint flavoured coating", this contains cashews, almonds and honey as well as rice crisp pieces. The bar is chunky, with the nuts looking very plentiful. The honey and glucose syrup binding it make it slightly sticky, and it's easy to split in half. I really enjoyed the refreshing taste of the mint chocolate on this bar, it's very different but very lovely and works well with the savoury nuts. This felt like quite a treat i...

I've been trying a lot of sugar free, dairy free vegan nut milks recently, in an effort to be healthy and find the best tasting ones. The results have been mixed, with the new Innocent Almond Milk being the best I've tried so far. Another new brand on the U.K market is Califia Farms, who make a range of nut milks and cold brew coffee drinks. Unlike other brands their range is free from the thickener carageenan, which has been linked to various health problems, and contain 50% more calcium than milk. Pretty impressive right?! This Coconut variety is available from Waitrose, and Sainsbury's also used to stock it although I haven't seen it there recently. It's made from a blend of coconut and coconut water to give it an authnetic light coconut flavour without the need for added sugars. And it tastes pretty good! It has a creamy, frothy texture and tastes quite light and refreshing to drink. The added calcium is noticeable and does give it a slightly chalky taste...

A big thank you to No & More for sending me some of their new drinks range to review recently. I've previously reviewed their NuVa Watermelon Water and enjoyed it, so was thankful indeed when they sent me this newly revamped range. They've changed their name from NuVa to No & More to better communicate what their range is all about, which is a good move in my opinion. Their waters are all sugar-free and only contain natural flavourings, making them suitable for any diet. The Cucumber and Mint variety shown above was...interesting. I'm not really a fan of cucumber and mint so I can't say I liked it that much, although I'm sure some people might find it refreshing. I'm afraid this gets a low 5 out of 10 as it's just not my kinda flavour. The Raspberry & Blueberry was more up my street - who doesn't like Berry flavoured drinks! There's only a hint of it but it's enough to make the water taste refreshing and interesting witho...