Snack Ball
Food · Other · Food, Typed Supps
"No added sugar" is true here and slightly beside the point — the dates bring the sugar with them.
Stage by stage
- Intake (Dense matrix chewed): Blended date paste, nuts and seeds are broken up — the blending itself is what frees the fruit sugars.
- Digestion (Sugar fast, fat slower): Date sugars release readily while 11.7g fat and 9.9g fibre slow gastric emptying and blunt the peak.
- Absorption (Minerals from the nuts): Magnesium, potassium and non-haem iron are absorbed, the iron limited by phytate and cacao polyphenols.
- Colon (Fibre fermented): Nearly 10g of fibre per 100g reaches the colon — the substantive difference from confectionery.
Time to effect
- Under an hour: Glucose becomes available within 30 to 60 minutes, with fat and fibre extending release over a couple of hours.
Allergens
None of the fourteen major allergens. May contain: Gluten, Milk, Peanuts, Sesame, Soya, Sulphites, Tree nuts. Derived from what this food is, not from a product label.
Eating patterns
Fits: Vegan, Vegetarian, Pescatarian, Halal, Kosher. Depends on the product: Low-FODMAP, Gluten-free.
Satiety
129 on the satiety index, where white bread is 100 — moderate. 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: 332
- Protein: 8.8g
- Carbohydrate: 45g
- of which sugars: 41g
- Fat: 11.7g
- of which saturated: 4.3g
- Fibre: 9.9g
- Sodium: 35mg
Food vs. supplement
Against a protein bar it offers less protein and more fruit sugar but more fibre and minerals. Against a chocolate bar it offers similar energy with real fibre and magnesium. It is a reasonable snack rather than a health food.
Kitchen tip
Weigh rather than count. These are compact and energy-dense, and portion drift is the main practical risk with them.
Common myth
"No added sugar means it is a low-sugar snack." In reality: The sugar is 41g per 100g and comes entirely from dried fruit. WHO counts sugars in blended fruit as free sugars because blending removes the structure that protects them, so this sits closer to confectionery on sugar than the claim implies — while genuinely beating it on fibre, magnesium and potassium.
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