Healthy snack round-up 2: Emily Fruit Crisps, iQ Chocolate, Kallo rice cake thins and Vithit.

The elephantine among you may recall I wrote this healthy snack round-up a few months ago. (Just to be clear, the elephant reference was because elephants never forget, I was not in fact assuming you're all the size of elephants.)

And because I love discovering new foodie products, am often sent samples to review, and my previous post went down so nicely, I thought I'd pop out another similar one.

I get really excited upon hearing about new foods and drinks that promise to taste divine and help us all be a bit healthier, and I imagine I'm not alone. But before you go out and part with your hard-earned cash (slash student loan), I thought it might be useful to read an honest review or two first.

So, let's crack on with it, shall we?


1. iQ Superfood Chocolate

Um, say whaaaaat!? Chocolate? That's good for you? HOW CAN THIS BE!?

iQ have recently launched two new bars in addition to their existing range of superfood chocolate bars, all of which boast over 20 validated health benefits. They sounded amazing, so I was thrilled to be kindly sent the BeautiQ and YogiQ bars to try.

My initial reaction was that the packaging and branding is simply delightful... Pretty cute, don'tcha think?

But let's get down to the taste, shall we?

I'll be honest, iQ Chocolate is no Dairy Milk. They're not sweet, but I did like the subtle gingeryness of the YogiQ and the little crunchy bits of the BeautiQ. Both bars are slightly bitter and extremely rich.

The bars are a good size but you probably wouldn't eat a whole one in one sitting (this coming from the girl who could happily chomp through a family-size bar of Galaxy in one go) - iQ Chocolate is just too rich.

They're not actually low-cal either, but if you consider that you'd probably eat less than you would of normal chocolate, you consume fewer calories.

My mum and sister tried the bars and here's what they had to say (which I found rather amusing):

Holly: "If you think of it as like a vegetable, it's alright."

Mum: "It's nearly as many calories as a Mars bar!"
Me: "Yeah but a Mars bar isn't guilt-free."
Mum: "I'd rather be guilty."

So no glowing endorsements from the Hosie ladies, I'm afraid. My opinion? I like the bars, but unfortunately I'm just not sure they'll be curing my milk chocolate cravings any time soon. Maybe I could slowly wean myself off normal choc and on to iQ though... Watch this space.

iQ Chocolate bars cost £2.49 each RRP.


2. Emily Fruit Crisps

These, my dears, are so very tasty. They were somehow much better than I expected - having tried a fair few dried fruit variants it takes something special to wow me. (How ridiculous do I sound?)

Emily Fruit Crisps are just fruit and a little oil and they're unlike anything I'd had before. There's also a really sweet story behind the name...

.
The fruit crisps have a unique airy texture, are full of fruity flavour and really are somehow like crisps. But sweet.

I always thought I'd prefer chewy soft dried fruit but actually loved the crunch of Emily Fruit Crisps. You also get a nice sizeable bag for really rather few calories - 133 for the pineapple, for example.

If there's one negative, for me it's that some of the pieces were a bit small in the pineapple, more like crumbs, but that was less a problem with the apple and banana. It's hard to pick a favourite, I'll be honest!


3. Kallo Chocolate Rice Cake Thins.

Rice cakes. Not exactly exciting are they? However, the new chocolatey jazzed-up versions are a significant improvement on the rice cakes you know and hate, mes amis.

Kallo sent me a lovely box-full of their latest chocolate rice cake thins "for a feel good tea break." I like the sound of that, thought I.

First up, I tried the dark chocolate with orange and my initial reaction was, well, this is a bit weird.

A few bites later, however, I decided actually this is really rather nice. Jolly tasty, in fact.

They have a really enjoyable crispness and a lovely flavour.

The milk chocolate with caramel rice cake thins, however, were less flavoursome, but still nice. And at around 60 calories per rice cake thin, they're pretty low-cal for their size. I'm a fan!


4. VitHit Immunitea

I'll be honest with you, my first thought on receiving this bottle was "Wow, it's so pink!" And y'all know I love pink.

VitHit make a range of healthy drinks, and having sampled the Immunitea I'm really keen to try the rest.

They say: "This is a delicious blend of Dragonfruit and yuzu fruit blended with black tea and a host of vitamins and minerals.  Containing 100% RDA of 7 vitamins plus Zinc and Vitamin C, Immunitea is the perfect blend for everyday protection."

I say: "It's delicious! And pink! And low-cal!"

And in that sense, what more could a gal want? Oh, health benefits, you say? Well sure. That's just the cherry on top of the, um, bottle of VitHit.


So, lovely people, what are you keen to try? Have you already eaten /drunk anything I've tried and do you agree with me? Let me know!

All the above products were kindly sent to me to try free of charge, but as always, my opinion is entirely honest.