I wasn't planning to write a separate post on Soulfull ragi choco fills as I had earlier touched upon its ingredients in my post on Kelloggs Chocos. However, having seen how it is being promoted by mommy instagrammers, I decided that this product needs to be reviewed separately.
It is all so cute and fun to see heart-warming pictures of mommy and kids in a lake side picnic. But carrying a picnic basket with small packs of Soulfull ragi choco fills is the heights of fake promotion (If you don't understand the context, check out these pics)
It is being promoted aggressively as a "healthy" breakfast cereal and a "healthy" anytime snack for young kids.
The brand and its digital aLLakkais (insta supporters) are pushing the product using the key ingredient "ragi". Yes, the ingredients list shows ragi as the first ingredient with 50%. What about the second ingredient - Sugar? Why isn't any of these mommies talking about the high sugar content (25%)?
A 30gm serving contains 7.5 gm of sugar (close to 2 tsp). So if a child eats 2 servings a day (one for breakfast and one for snack), then he/she would have consumed 4 tsp of sugar (close to hitting the 5 tsp sugar allowance limit per day).
Though the overall fats percentage is relatively low (10%), let's look at the fat sources - edible palm oil and hydrogenated vegetable fat. Both are unhealthy and causes inflammation in the long run.
As with any packaged foods, there are additives added to increase shelf life - stabilizer (INS 170), emulsifier (INS 322) and antioxidant (INS 320), each having its own set of side effects in the long run.
100 gm of ragi wholegrain contains 11 gm of dietary fibre, whereas ragi chocofills (100 gm) contains ONLY 6.1 gm of dietary fibre. This is due to the fact that the processing involved in making those fills strips off the fibre.
If you want to include ragi in your daily diet, make
- ragi idlis, dosas and adais with wholegrain
- ragi porridge made with ragi flour / sprouted ragi flour
- ragi rotis made with ragi flour
- add ragi flour to your regular wholewheat atta to make chapathis
- bake cake/muffins at home with ragi flour
- make ragi laddoos for anytime snack
- make ragi halwa, ragi murukku for festive treats
Let’s not rely on these packaged brands to give us the "goodness of ragi".