Non ultra processed snacks that I can buy?

[Zarbies]

Like chocolate / oaty bars etc? Any brands that aren’t ultra processed and tasty?

I am craving something easy - but trying to reduce my UPF drastically!

I tend to go for things like almonds or dried mango personally. Surely anything in a bar would be ultra processed unless made at home with oats and nuts?

Plain raw or roasted nuts
Mini cheeses (cheddar rather than cheese strings!)
Ready chopped carrot sticks/mange tout
If it has to be sweet then plain dried fruit is your best option. I don't think Nakd bars are too bad but they're still more processed than eating a couple of dates.

I'm in the same boat (if I read one more article recommending apple and peanut butter I will scream), but I've settled for down grading upf snacks to to non upf but still processed ones (eg baked crisps, ingredients potatoes, fat, salt) as nothing else hits the spot. It's expensive though.

I tried the freee brand oaty bars but they were meh. I also tried to make my own flapjack, but the baking gene has passed me by.

Edited to add - Bear dried strawberries (not the fruit leather) taste like sweeties.

Get the YUKA app on your phone. Scan the barcodes in the shop of stuff you like. Choose all green products.
This app has totally changed my life.
If a product scans bad (red) it will give you green alternatives if you save the product and scroll down to alternatives.
It also tells you what toiletries have cancer causing ingredients in them.

Make your own flapjacks.
bananas.
apples.
trail mix with choc chips.
nuts.
baked chickpeas

A square of dark chocolate (70%) should do. Do what the French kids do, a square of chocolate on a buttered slice of (real) bread. Or a piece of fruit, bonus point if a different one every day.

Agree with @Gettingbysomehow , the Yuka app is a good guide. Go for excellent.

Make your own? Oats, butter and honey make lovely flapjacks. Add chocolate chips if you wish (try to get the best you can). They take 20 minutes and well worth the effort.

You can buy little protein balls that are usually nice, although I basically make my own with three ingredients - medjool dates, peanut butter and dark chocolate.

I chop up the dates, add a tablespoon of hot water to soften them, and then blend them into a paste. Then add a few teaspoons of peanut butter. Then roll them into balls and dip them in dark chocolate.

I usually keep them in the fridge for snacks - they are really delicious, and satisfy any sweet cravings. They basically taste like a chocolate truffle.

Or you can just snack on medjool dates on their own - they taste like toffees (although I wouldn't eat too many in one go as they have lots of fibre and run through you!)

I'd eat well the rest of the time and indulge in a little upf for snacktime. The occasional chocolate bar isn't going to kill you. Ready salted crisps aren't UPF. Nuts and dried fruit are good snacks.

I like to make my own date bars (like nakd bars)
The flavouring is cocoa powder and orange essence though so might not be upf free.
The rest of the ingredients are dates, cashews, raisins and water.

Cheese strings surprisingly really aren't that bad.

It's very simple to make mozzarella into string cheese. It's barely more processed than any other cheese.

It's probably better nutritionally than dried fruit, which contains a lot of sugar and you end up eating much more than you would if it were fresh.

for those who struggle with flapjacks the below recipe revolutionised them for me. It’s always annoyed me that I can’t make what should be a simple recipe but these are incredible.

Fills one toffee tin worth (you can make it in a smaller tin so the flapjack is deeper, but it will be very soft).

Melt 6oz butter with 4oz sugar and 1 tbs of golden syrup.

Once melted add 8oz porridge oats.

Press into tin (no need to grease) and bake for 12-15 mins or until evenly browned in oven 180C

Immediately take a wet knife (keep wetting it in cold water) and mark out squares. Remember to gently ease the flapjack from the sides of the tin too.

Once cold, cut along the mark lines.

If you want a more crunchy flapjack, use no syrup but increase sugar to 6oz ( beware, goes very hard!!)

Wowzers just been scanning stuff in bathroom, madness how much is poor. Got some good stuff, but will buy alternatives. Its been an eye opener.

How do companies get away with it?

I'm so shocked a lot of my bathroom products are poor. Some aren't, you'd never guess they would be as reputable popular brands! I'm shocked!

The only problem with Yuka is it will say poor if something is high in sugar and/or fat, I'm personally happy for my butter to have a high fat content! So I ignore the the colour and just look at the additive risks, I dont ban fat or carbs from my diet.

Snacks are the hardest part, especially if on the go. For home I make flapjack, cake, noodles, granola, then we always have fruit and nuts etc. I have M&S's UPF free chocolate for a treat on the weekend.

I believe some ready salted crisps can be ok and the chocolate free Nakd bars.

Tbh as I don't snack outside the house very much I unclench outside the house, I'm not trying to go entirely UPF free.

I've just downloaded the YUKA app - its amazing!!!!!

Just to say one of the main perks from reducing UPF (and drinking more water) has been a huge reduction in temptation to snack. I still enjoy something sweet after dinner so always have something made set aside (biscuits or cake) but I don't snack in the afternoons or evenings any more, bulking out meals with veg, eating proper food (and upping water) has really kicked those snacking habits.

Not true for my kids though!

Do you guys follow if for toiletries? Om a bit afraid to brush my teeth now haha

Golden syrup is UPF though and the key to a good flapjack IMO! (That and condensed milk yum). Though personally I can’t get het up about it as having HM flapjack keeps my kids much happier than any other truly UPF snack.
babybel is UPF too.
Normal ready salted crisps, some brands.

The thing is that you can't properly prepare snacks from the shop. So the nuts, oats etc have still got high levels of phytic acid because you can't pre-soak them etc.

Smol do some nice toiletries. Their toothpaste is much less sweet and tastes cleaner than normal toothpaste.

I also found the same with vitamins - when you read the ingredients of the children’s ones they’re absolute trash!!!

I’m still giving them (the least bad I can find) but on the hunt for better.

Sorry - at the beginning of this, @cinapolada what’s the M&S upf free chocolate called?

Nuts
Olives
Popcorn
Crudités

Apples, bananas, nuts, dried fruits

If ifs packaged it's processed