Brownie Brittle is a popular snack that gives you the perfect combination of a brownie’s chocolatey flavor and a cookie’s satisfying crunch.
It is primarily made with ingredients like enriched wheat flour, sugar and palm oil, and comes in various flavors, such as chocolate chip, salted caramel, pumpkin spice, M&M’s mini, dark chocolate sea salt, and more.
However, with all this indulgence, is Brownie Brittle a healthy option?
Short answer: Brownie Brittle is not healthy as it is high in sugar, low in protein and fiber and contain highly processed ingredients. Additionally, some of it’s flavors contain health risky artificial colors.
Let’s dive deeper into Brownie Brittle.
Also read: Are Fiber One Brownies Healthy? Here Is The Answer
What are the ingredients in Brownie Brittle?
The Exact ingredients in Brownie Brittle vary depending on the flavor.
However, each Brownie Brittle flavor comes with a long list of ingredients.
In general, most Brownie brittle flavors are made up of enriched wheat flour, powdered sugar, sugar, palm oil, and corn syrup solid as the first five ingredients.
Other common ingredients that you may find include:
- Cocoa (processed with alkali)
- Soybean oil
- Cornstarch
- Egg white
- Baking soda
- Natural and artificial flavor
- Artificial colors
4 Reasons Brownie Brittle is not Healthy
1. High in sugar
Brownie Brittle is high in sugar containing 10 to 16g per serving(28g), depending on the flavor.
Most of the sugar comes from added sources like powdered sugar and sugar.
To put this into perspective, the American Heart Association recommends that men limit daily sugar intake to 36g while women to 24g.
Consuming just one serving(28g) of Brownie brittle can provide up to 44% of the daily sugar limit for men and 66% for women.
That’s a significant amount of sugar to consume in just one snack.
If you choose to eat Brownie brittle, it will become important for you to balance it out with low-sugar foods for the rest of the day.
Although, if you are concerned about sugar intake, Brownie Brittle also comes in a chocolate chip KETO flavor which is sugar-free.
But other than this flavor, all are high in sugar.
Here is a table showing the sugar content of all Brownie Brittle flavors.
| Brown Brittle flavor | Added sugar(g) | Total sugar(g) |
|---|---|---|
| Salted caramel | 15 | 15 |
| Chocolate chip | 15 | 15 |
| Chocolate chips (blondie) | 10 | 11 |
| Pumpkin spice | 9 | 10 |
| M&M (blondie) | 11 | 11 |
| M&M (gluten-free) | 15 | 15 |
| Dark chocolate sea salt | 15 | 15 |
| Dark chocolate sea salt (gluten-free) | 16 | 16 |
| Heart toffee crunch | 13 | 13 |
| Meyer lemon | 10 | 10 |
| Reeses pieces | 14 | 14 |
| Key lime | 9 | 10 |
| Coconut | 11 | 11 |
| Chocolate chip (gluten-free) | 16 | 16 |
| Chocolate chip (zero sugar) | 0 | 0 |
2. Low in nutrition
While Brownie Brittle may satisfy your sweet tooth, it is extremely low in nutrition.
Most flavors of Brownie Brittle contain just 1 to 2g of protein and rarely 1g of fiber per serving.
Additionally, while the packaging does list nutrients like iron, calcium, and potassium, they are present in tiny quantities that won’t make a significant contribution to your daily recommended intake.
Furthermore, Brownie Brittle is made with enriched flour which has been enriched with nutrients like niacin, thiamine, riboflavin, and folic acid.
However, these nutrients are not labeled on the nutrition label, suggesting that they are present in tiny quantities.
Of course, taste matters too, but if you’re looking for a snack that can provide you with some nutritional benefits, Brownie Brittle is not the right choice.
Chocolate chips KETO is the only flavor with an average 3g of protein and fiber.
3. Use of Artificial colors
It’s not just the high sugar content and lack of nutrition that makes Brownie Brittle unhealthy.
Some flavors, such as M&M and Reese’s pieces of Brownie Brittle, contain artificial colors like Yellow 6, Yellow 5, Red 40, and Blue 1.
While all these colors have been deemed safe by food authorities, they are associated with various health risks.
For example, artificial colors like Red 40, Yellow 5, and Yellow 6 have been found to be contaminated with carcinogens like benzidine and p-Cresidine[1].
On the other hand, color like Blue 1 is known to cause hypersensitivity reactions(especially in children)[2].
Moreover, artificial colors have also been linked to allergic reactions such as hives, rashes, swelling, and skin reactions[3].
In my opinion, these two flavors of the Brownie Brittle are the unhealthiest of all.
4. Highly processed ingredients
Brownie Brittle is a highly processed snack food because it has ingredients like sugar, hydrogenated vegetable oils, corn syrup solids, cornstarch, and artificial colors.
In fact, the primary ingredient(enriched wheat flour) of Brownie brittle is itself highly processed.
Yes, enriched wheat flour is a highly processed form of wheat flour. It is made by removing the bran and germ and then bleached and fortified with various vitamins and minerals.
As per Harvard University, processed foods are one of the main contributors to obesity and the rising of chronic diseases like heart disease and diabetes[6].
How much sodium is in Brownie Brittle?
Brownie Brittle is low in sodium containing 10 to 115mg per serving, depending on the flavor. That’s the lowest of any snacks I have ever come around.
To put into perspective, even if you indulge in the high-sodium Brownie Brittle flavor, you’ll only be consuming 7% of the recommended daily ideal sodium limit(1500mg) set by the American Heart Association.
Sodium is an essential part of a diet, but too much can result in heart-related issues.
However, you don’t have to worry about the sodium with Brownie Brittle.
Is Brownie Brittle good for weight loss?
Brownie Brittle is not a good choice for weight loss as most of the flavors contain a significant amount of added sugar.
In addition, while the calorie count of Brownie Brittle may seem low (ranging from 110 to 160 per serving), most of those calories come from added sugar and vegetable oils, which can lead to weight gain if consumed in excess.
Remember that weight loss depends not only on one food but your overall diet and lifestyle.
Chocolate chip KETO is the best Brownie Brittle flavor to add to a weight loss diet. It is sugar-free and also contains a good amount of protein and fiber.
Is Brownie Brittle keto-friendly? Only the chocolate chip KETO flavor of Brownie Brittle is Keto-friendly. It contains just 2g of net carbs per serving.
Is Brownie Brittle gluten-free?
While most flavors of Brownie Brittle contain gluten, there are several flavors that are gluten-free.
These include Chocolate chip KETO, Dark chocolate sea salt, Chocolate chip gluten-free, and M&Ms.
Is Brownie Brittle vegan-friendly?
Brownie Brittle is not vegan-friendly as it contains milk and eggs.
Final words
Brownie Brittle might be a tasty snack option for those with a sweet tooth, but it is not a healthy.
There are many reasons for this such as:
- It is made with enriched wheat flour (processed flour).
- It is high in sugar.
- It is low in essential nutrients like protein and fiber.
- It is packed with processed ingredients.
Although, Brownie Brittle does contain low sodium levels, but that’s not enough to be called as healthy.
Additionally, some flavors contain artificial colors that have been associated with health risks.
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