These two treats deliver for lovers of straight-up chocolate. But one contains an ingredient that reduces the amount of real cocoa butter used. Which one is wearing the disguise?
Answer: Aero
Aero contains polyglycerol polyricinoleate (PGPR), a commercial emulsifier made from castor bean oils, which allows the manufacturer to use less real cocoa butter, thereby reducing their product cost. PGPR is not unsafe, but it does replace the real cocoa in a product with a cheaper substitute that lacks chocolate’s antioxidant benefits. Besides, if you’re eating chocolate, don’t you want to be eating real chocolate?
Also see: 100 Healthy Snacks Under 200 Calories
Mr. Big or Oh Henry?
For big, chewy, crunchy, cram-everything-in bars, these two treats do the trick. But a huge sugar difference makes this an easy pick. Which one should go back in the sack?
Answer: Oh Henry
Both of these bars have long ingredient lists. But Mr. Big has half the sugar of Oh Henry (4 g compared to 8 g), and Oh Henry includes high fructose corn syrup, a sugar ingredient that has been linked to obesity and increased appetite.
Also see: Which Is Worse? How to Avoid Unhealthy Snacks
Reese Peanut Butter Cups or Snickers?
Both of these goodies satisfy cravings for a sweet and salty combo. But one crams in far more calories, fat, sugar, and sodium. Which is it?
Answer: Reese Peanut Butter Cups
One peanut butter cup is only 2 g bigger than a Snickers, but it has 20 more calories, 2 g more fat, and 25 mg more sodium. The peanut butter cups also use that sneaky PGPR, which Snickers does not, and they contain trans fat.
Also see: 9 Smart Tricks for Healthy Eating
M+Ms or Smarties?
This is a classic Halloween showdown. So which candy-coated chocolate treat should be left at the bottom of the candy bag?
Answer: M+Ms
The sad truth is, there’s no real winner in this category, as both Smarties and M&Ms contain artificial colourings and wax. M&Ms is the worse pick simply because of the larger portion size: 13 g compared to Smarties’ 10. Those 3 extra grams mean 15 extra calories and twice as much sodium and fat.
Also see: 51 'Healthy' Foods that Really Aren't
Kit Kat or Twix?
These two bars are custom-made for fans of crispy wafers and cookies. But one has an extra-long ingredients list that still manages not to include one of the key advertised ingredients of the bar. Which one?
Answer: Twix
Kit Kat and Trix are similar in calories and sugar, and have similar main ingredients (and both of them include PGPR emulsifier). But Twix’s ingredients list is surprisingly long - often a sign that a product is highly processed and contains artificial chemicals, preservatives, colourings, and flavourings. Even more surprising, although Twix is marketed as a biscuit finger topped with caramel and covered with chocolate, there’s no caramel on the ingredients list. Instead, the caramel is likely made from solid oil with added flavourings. It seems Twix’s caramel is more trick than treat.
Also see: Which Is Worse? Battle of the Fast Food Breakfasts
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