Sunday 18 December 2016

The Surprising Wrap On Wraps




Brought to you by Nuffnang and Helgas

I’m going to be honest… I have never really given a whole lot of thought to my salt intake or that of my families for that matter either.

I mean, we don’t really add much salt to our food at all… OK… except for maybe on our BBQ corn on the cob because mmmmm BBQ corn on the cob, but surely salt isn’t something that needs that much thought right?

Wrong!

So I have found out.





I have been doing some work with Helga’s to help spread the word about the ‘Wraps Unwrapped’ Report and according to the 2011-12 National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey, the average daily intake of sodium from food amongst Australians aged 19 and over is 2,430.5mg which well exceeds the Suggest Dietary Target of four grams of salt (1,600mg of sodium per day)1.

It’s in so much of what we eat every day without us even adding any extra (hello again corn) and what this means is that when we eat something that doesn’t have added salt…it can taste kind of…bland. Often this leads to us adding some more salt and then we end up eating more salt that we should.

So what does Helga’s wraps have to do with all of this?

Well if you are like me, you might be regularly putting wraps into your kid’s lunch boxes. You think you are doing the right thing filling those wraps with healthy stuff like salad and protein and yet unknowingly we could be putting additional salt into our kid’s lunchbox too. Not to mention artificial preservatives to boot.

That’s because some wraps have a whole lot more salt than others and contain artificial preservatives. 

1.University of Newcastle, Wraps Unwrapped Report, October 2016


Goodman Fielder undertook an analysis in conjunction with Newcastle University to create an independent and publicly available analysis of 22 of Australia’s top selling brands of wraps. The Wraps Unwrapped report was commissioned to help us as consumers understand the differences between leading wrap brands.

Yeah, OK… so what does all that mean?

What they found was that 17 of the top 22 wraps contained artificial preservatives.

Holy moly, that means that even the ones that look healthy may not be all that they seem.

By swapping to a wrap with a lower level of salt than the market leader Mission Wraps Original2, like Helga's Traditional White Wraps, we can reduce the mg/100g of sodium we consume by 40% and skip the artificial preservatives altogether.

I made the Helga’s Spicy Chicken n’ Slaw Wraps for the kid’s school lunch and I was keen to see if they noticed the difference in taste from the reduced salt. I mean, let’s face it - kids can be super fussy little buggers!

The advice Susie Burrell has shared is to accustom ourselves to a gradual reduction in our usual salt intake and there are a number of ways to do that including; cooking your food in such a way that it will preserve its natural flavours, using fresh ingredients and adding herbs and spices to enhance the flavour.

The outcome?

Two thumbs up and declarations of the best lunch in a million years and a request to have it again tomorrow… and the next day… and the day after that.

Give this recipe a try with your kids. It’s kinda perfect for lunches and for a quick and easy dinner.

2. 350mg or 40% less sodium per 100g consumed when Mission Original Wraps (790mg sodium per 100g) is swapped for Helga’s Traditional White Wraps (430mg sodium per 100g)


For more information from one of Australia's leading dieticians, Susie Burrell, and to get her take on the better options available to us when it comes to lower salt and no artificial preservatives and what to look out for when you are reading the nutritional content and food labels on products, pop over to Helga’s Bakehouse on Facebook

What are your favourite wrap fillings?