‘Thin’ snacks that aren’t any healthier

FOOD manufacturers are misleading dieters by creating ‘thin’ products which have more calories per 100g than regular ones, it is claimed.

A television expose, which comes amid mounting concern over obesity, has also discovered that supermarkets are charging slimmers more.

Ryvita’s Multiseed Thins cost £1.52 and have 432 calories per 100g, compared to the Multigrain Regular crispbreads which cost a third of the price and have 370 calories per 100g.

And McVities Digestive Thins – a slimmed-down alternative to the traditional biscuit – have 490 calories per 100g, compared to 480 per 100g for the standard range. Sabrina Grant, who hosts the Supershoppers programme, which will be screened at 8pm tonight on Channel 4, said: ‘Most thins don’t just cost more.

‘Nine out of the ten products we checked contain more calories per hundred grams than the regular versions.

‘It seems that when it comes to thin products, less is more – less product, more cost.’

Co-presenter Anna Richardson said: ‘OK, if you’re strict, they have fewer calories. But not if you reach for another and another and keep going because you think, “They’re thins, after all”.’