Not so delicious... Ella’s snack has double the sugar of a Krispy Kreme
SHE has built a lucrative empire promoting healthy eating, and millions follow her advice about vegan, sugar-free cooking.
However, fans may be surprised to learn that just one of Deliciously Ella’s Hazelnut & Raisin balls contains an ‘alarming’ 19g of sugar, or five teaspoons – almost twice the amount found in a glazed Krispy Kreme doughnut.
When Ella Woodward published her manifesto Deliciously Ella: A Bible For Plant-Based Living, it became the fastest-selling debut cookbook on record – beating Nigella Lawson’s How To Eat and Jamie Oliver’s The Naked Chef.
Two subsequent cookbooks also topped the charts, followed by the establishment of a London delicatessen in 2015.
In August this year, Ella, who now goes under her married name of Mills, released an eponymous range of snacks.
Her ‘energy balls’ come in three flavours made from ‘natural ingredients’ including nuts and dried fruit, and are based on recipes first featured on her blog.
The Mail on Sunday asked nutritional therapist Jackie Lynch to analyse Ella’s range and she discovered that at 47.6g of sugar – nearly 12 teaspoons – per 100g, a Deliciously Ella Hazelnut & Raisin ball has more sugar than a Twix bar, which contains 46.9g of sugar per 100g.
While the Hazelnut & Raisin ball is nearly 50 per cent sugar, the two other Ella snacks fare better.
A 40g serving of the Cashew & Ginger version contains 15.1g – almost four teaspoons – followed by the Cacao & Almond with 12.7g of sugar, which is equivalent to three teaspoons.
Lynch said: ‘Ella’s snacks are made with dates, which have a similar amount of sugar to toffee, and raisins, another highsugar dried fruit. Would you put five teaspoons of sugar in a cup of tea? Probably not.’
New sugarintake guidelines were introduced last year after a report by the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition (SACN) linked the Western world’s rising levels of diabetes and obesity to a high-sugar diet.
Public Health England now recommends that sugar consumption should be limited to about five per cent of daily food intake – that’s no more than 30g per day for an adult, or seven teaspoons. For children under ten, it’s 19 to 24g, or no more than six teaspoons.
These recommendations cover added sugars such as honey, syrups, fruit juices and fruit concentrates, but not dried fruit.
However, Lynch said: ‘The sugars in dried fruit, used in Ella’s snacks, are naturally occurring, unlike the sugar in a Krispy Kreme or Twix which have large amounts of refined and processed sugar added.
‘But sugar is sugar. Naturally occurring sugars can still pose the same challenges to the body as refined sugar, which is itself derived from a natural source.’
Lynch added: ‘If you’re having a Mars bar, then you know that it’s not so good for you, but that’s not going to be the case when you pick up a product from a brand associated with healthy eating like Ella’s.’
Asked to respond to our findings, Mills said: ‘Our energy balls aim to deliver nutritious and wholesome ingredients in a handy snack.
‘We have been working with a dietician, Lucy Jones, to determine the appropriate portion size, which is 40g, and that’s what we recommend as a serving.
‘We are totally transparent about the product and what’s in it, including sharing the recipes for all three flavours online, so that you can make them at home.
‘We don’t market the product as healthy and make no claims on our packaging – instead we focus on being natural, simple and honest.’
Jones says: ‘Focusing on one nutrient alone – like sugar – encourages a distorted view of food. The sugar comes only from dried fruit and therefore is not the focus on public health drives to reduce free sugars in food.’
But Jackie Lynch still suggests avoiding the energy balls.
She says: ‘My advice is to buy a few nuts and a piece of whole fruit instead. You’ll get more fibre and less sugar, and you’re not going to spike and crash a
few hours later.’