Faux health halo for vegie chips

08/12/2021

Media contact: Jane Simpson, 0438 682 548, jane.simpson@cancerwa.asn.au

Cancer Council WA is cautioning consumers not to be duped into thinking vegie chips are a healthy alternative to potato chips or vegetables, following a new audit that showed almost 70 per cent of the products analysed contained unacceptable levels of salt.

Cancer Council WA’s Obesity Prevention Manager, Ainslie Sartori, said shockingly 14 of the vegie chip products analysed contained over 1000mg of sodium per 100g.

“Cancer Council WA’s LiveLighter team conducted a nutrition audit of the vegie chips available from the health food and chip aisles at Australia’s two major supermarket chains, excluding products that contained only potato or corn,” Ms Sartori said.

“Of the 84 different vegie chips products analysed, 69 per cent contained unacceptable levels of salt, defined as over 400mg of sodium per 100g of product.

“We’ve seen an explosion in the number of chip alternatives in health food aisles recently including lentil, pea, mushroom, carrot, broccoli, beetroot and seaweed chips.

“While vegie chips might be marketed as a crispy alternative to vegetables, these products are not a good replacement for eating five serves of vegetables every day.

“Not only are most vegie chips high in salt, they are also ultra-processed.”

Ms Sartori said salt content was not the sole concern, with some products also containing high amounts of sugar and saturated fat.

“Four of the products contained more than 20 per cent sugar, with one packet of broccoli florets containing almost 40 per cent sugar,” she said

“With end-of-the-year parties now in full swing, we urge consumers to try healthier options like fresh vegetables and tasty dips like hummus or tzatziki, or if you do decide to buy a packet of vegie chips, look for products with less than 400mg per 100g.”

The worst offenders with over 1000mg sodium per 100g

Product	Flavour	Sodium (mg) per 100g
Ceres Organic Seaweed Snacks	Original	2300
Simply 7 Lentil Chips	Sea Salt	1648
The Natural Chip Co Lentil Craves	Sweet Chili Sour Cream	1420
Ceres Organic Seaweed Snacks	Chilli	1355
Ajitas Vege Twists with Potato & Lentils	Cheese	1317
Ajitas Vege Chips	Salt & Vinegar	1230
Ajitas Vege Rice Crackers	Honey Soy	1200
Simply 7 Lentil Chips	Honey Soy Chicken	1160
Simply 7 Lentil Chips	Jalapeno	1070
Ajitas Vege Deli Crisps	Turmeric and Cheese	1050
Ajitas Vege Chips	Chicken	1030
OBAP Seaweed Snacks	Roasted	1020
Honest Sea Roasted Seaweed Snack	Teriyaki	1013
Simply 7 Lentil Chips	Sea Salt & Balsamic Vinegar	1010

 Products with high levels of sugar

Product	Sugar (g) per 100g
DJ&A Broccoli Florets	39.7
DJ&A Veggie Crisps	30.5
DJ&A Shiitake Mushroom Chips	27
Coles Veggie Chips (scoop and weigh)	23

 Saturated fat content

This was an issue for one brand of crispy seaweed snacks due to the addition of palm oil to their products.

Product	Flavour	Saturated fat (g) per 100g
Taokaenoi Crispy Seaweed	Original	27.6
Taokaenoi Crispy Seaweed	Hot & spicy	26.9
Taokaenoi Crispy Seaweed	Sour cream and chives	24.7

 ENDS

Cancer Council 13 11 20