Confectionery

Food · Other · Food, Typed Supps

These are all chocolate around a centre. A nut centre means more fat; a fruit or sugar centre means more sugar.

Stage by stage

Intake (Chocolate melts): Cocoa butter melts just below body temperature, releasing the centre — nut, fruit or sugar shell.
Digestion (Centre sets the pace): Nut centres bring protein, fibre and intact cell walls that slow digestion; fruit and sugar centres do not.
Bloodstream (Sugar first, fat after): Sucrose from the shell absorbs fast; the fat follows over several hours.
Fat quality (Saturated versus unsaturated): Nut centres shift the fat mix towards oleic acid; the coating's contribution stays saturated.

Time to effect

Under an hour: Sugar reaches the bloodstream within about 30 minutes; the fat clears over several hours.

Allergens

Contains: Milk. May contain: Gluten, Eggs, Peanuts, Soya, Tree nuts. Derived from what this food is, not from a product label.

Eating patterns

Fits: Vegetarian, Pescatarian, Halal, Kosher. Depends on the product: Low-FODMAP, Gluten-free.

Satiety

71 on the satiety index, where white bread is 100 — low. Modelled from the Holt et al. (1995) measurements.

Cost band

Mid — roughly £4 per kg, as a band midpoint rather than a price.

Key nutrients

Nutrition per 100g

Calories: 528
Protein: 9.4g
Carbohydrate: 48.4g
of which sugars: 47.2g
Fat: 33.5g
of which saturated: 16.5g
Fibre: 3.6g
Sodium: 58mg

Food vs. supplement

Not a supplement question. If the goal is vitamin E, magnesium or unsaturated fat, plain nuts deliver those without the sugar; this is confectionery that happens to contain some of them.

Kitchen tip

If the appeal is the nut, plain roasted almonds or peanuts give the same fat, vitamin E and magnesium without the sugar shell. If the appeal is the chocolate, that is a fair reason to eat it, and the nut version at least brings something with it.

Common myth

“Chocolate-coated nuts count as a serve of nuts.” In reality: The nut inside is real, but the coating roughly doubles the energy and adds around 36g of sugar per 100g. It is a sweet with a nut in it, not a nut with a coating.