Nature Valley Sweet & Salty Dark Chocolate & Nut Cereal Bar is a packaged snack bar. Even when it is sold as a protein or breakfast bar, it is built from processed ingredients, added sugars or sweeteners and usually a chocolate-style coating, which places it in NOVA group 4. It can be a handy protein or energy top-up, but it is a processed food rather than a whole one. It adds vitamins, minerals and fibre to your day. Work out what one bar delivers, for any age, below.
For a bar the numbers worth watching are protein, sugar and fat. The tables below set each against age-appropriate guidance.
One bar (40g) contains about 8.8g of sugar. In a bar like this it is mostly added rather than natural, so it counts as free sugar toward the daily limit the NHS sets. Some bars keep this number low by using sweeteners or sugar alcohols such as maltitol instead, which can upset the stomach in larger amounts. The table shows the limit by age.
Nature Valley Sweet & Salty Dark Chocolate & Nut Cereal Bar is naturally high in fat, with about 9.52g per portion, and most of it is saturated (3.72g). There is 0g of added fat, but the table shows how the saturated fat compares with the daily maximum, so it is best enjoyed in smaller amounts.
Because nature valley sweet & salty dark chocolate & nut cereal bar is salted, a portion carries about 0.39g of salt. Children have lower daily salt limits than adults, so it is worth checking against the guidance below.
Fibre supports healthy digestion, and most people in the UK do not get enough. A portion provides about 5.2g. Because children need less fibre than adults, that same portion covers a bigger share of a younger child's target.
There is about 18.3g of carbohydrate per portion. There is no single daily target, but roughly half of daily energy should come from carbohydrate; the reference values below are based on that.
Starchy foods also add protein to the day, about 4.0g per portion. Wholegrain versions and wheat pasta give a little more than white rice. The table shows how that compares with the daily amount by age.
Percentages are share of the daily Nutrient Reference Value (NRV). Under UK and EU rules a food is a source of a nutrient at 15% NRV per 100g and high in it at 30%.
These tables show how the nutrients compare to daily needs across different ages, using UK Reference Nutrient Intakes (RNIs). This differs from the source of and high in labels above, which use the single adult figure (NRV) set for food packaging. Children's needs are lower, so a portion goes further.
Yes. Nature Valley Sweet & Salty Dark Chocolate & Nut Cereal Bar is an ultra-processed food (NOVA group 4). Even bars marketed as high-protein or healthy are engineered from protein isolates, sweeteners, binders and coatings. As an occasional protein or energy top-up that is fine, but a whole-food source such as eggs, yoghurt or a handful of nuts does the same job with far less processing.
Nutrition data from McCance and Widdowson and UK FoodData Central, per 100g raw edible portion; values are reference figures and can vary by variety and ripeness. Reference intakes: EU NRVs for labelling and UK RNIs (SACN) for age-based needs. For guidance only.