If you want to take a sweet breakfast with you for one, start with the portion: a spiced breakfast cake bar is different from a small pack containing several biscuits. Then compare products of the same type per 100 g, looking at factors such as sugars and fibre, and check the weight of what you actually eat. Don’t judge a ‘less sugar’ option by its name alone.
If you don’t want to open a large pack on your way to work or study, you could look at bars or small, pre-portioned packs of biscuits. Just check how much you get from the pack for each eating occasion.
If you’re mainly looking at sugars and fibre in spiced breakfast cake bars, the nutritional information per 100 g and the weight per bar are more useful than a claim on the front of the pack. The Netherlands Nutrition Centre advises comparing similar products on the same weight basis.
If you prefer biscuits to spiced breakfast cake, you could consider a pack with smaller portions. Lotus Biscoff 6 Grains, for example, is sold as 10 × 2 biscuits: that’s a couple of biscuits per portion, not a single bar.
First decide whether you want a bar or biscuits, and how much counts as one portion for you. Then use the nutritional information to compare products of the same type.
| What to consider | What to check when buying | Who it matters to |
|---|---|---|
| Portion and portability | Check the number of portions and the weight per bar or biscuit portion. | If I’m having breakfast alone and want to take something with me, I want to know in advance what one eating occasion includes. For around 30% of consumers, a practical portion size comes first. |
| Sugars and fibre | Compare products of the same type per 100 g; also check the ingredients and the weight per portion. | I want to choose between spiced breakfast cake bars based on sugars and fibre, not just the product name. Around 40% of consumers say this comparison is their priority. |
| Biscuit flavour | Check whether the pack contains a bar or a portion with several biscuits. | I prefer a crunchy biscuit to a soft spiced breakfast cake bar, even if I only want a small portion. This flavour preference matters most to around 20% of consumers. |
| Where you shop | Check the current product variant, pack size and label before comparing products. | I mainly choose from what’s available in my usual shop, and want to know exactly which product I’m taking with me. For around 10% of consumers, where they shop is the deciding factor. |
Online labels show why the second check matters: Albert Heijn lists 38 g of sugars and 3.2 g of fibre per 100 g for AH Plain Spiced Breakfast Cake Bar; Jumbo lists 22.7 g of sugars and 17.8 g of fibre per 100 g for its Less Sugar Spiced Breakfast Cake. These are both spiced breakfast cake products, but their portions and other ingredients are worth checking too. Don’t use these figures as a direct nutritional comparison with speculoos biscuits or muesli bars.
A portion that’s easy to take with you doesn’t tell you what else your breakfast contains. The ingredients and the amount you eat are separate choices.
Check the label and decide how the bar fits into your eating occasion, rather than relying on the word ‘breakfast’ in the product name.
A claim like this doesn’t describe the full nutritional value or ingredients list. For example, Jumbo’s Less Sugar variant also gives a separate fibre value per 100 g.
Compare similar products per 100 g, then check the ingredients, portion size and allergens on the current pack.
Lotus Biscoff 6 Grains is packed as two biscuits per portion. So one pack isn’t the same product format as one spiced breakfast cake bar.
Check the number of pieces and the weight of the portion you plan to eat.
Ingredients and warnings can vary by product and recipe. The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority explains how allergens must be clearly identified on the label.
If you have an allergy, read the full, up-to-date ingredients and allergen information on the pack, including any warnings about cross-contamination.
The 6 Grains speculoos variant is available in a pack of 10 × 2 biscuits.
AH Plain Spiced Breakfast Cake Bar comes in a 6-pack and is an option if you’re looking for a spiced breakfast cake bar.
Jumbo Less Sugar Spiced Breakfast Cake is a spiced breakfast cake variant sold in a pack of six portions.
Lidl lists biscuits and bars among its Sondey products; the separately listed Lidl biscuit bars come in several variants.
ALDI lists grain biscuits and muesli bars among its Golden Bridge products.
These two Joybuy products offer different options for a sweet eating occasion: a spiced breakfast cake variant and milk chocolate biscuits. First choose the type of product and portion you want; then check the label for the variant you’ve chosen.
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An option to consider if you’d rather take spiced breakfast cake than biscuits with you. The product name gives the pack size as 250 g; before comparing, check the weight of each bar and whether the nutritional values are given per bar or per 100 g. If you have an allergy, check the current label too.
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For anyone who’d rather have a milk chocolate biscuit with breakfast than a spiced breakfast cake bar. The product name gives the pack size as 150 g; check the pack to see how many biscuits you’ll have for each eating occasion, and read the current ingredients and allergen information.
First compare spiced breakfast cake bars with one another per 100 g, then look at the values for the bar you eat. The Netherlands Nutrition Centre recommends comparing products per 100 g, as portion sizes can vary.
No, the claim alone doesn’t tell you everything about the product. For example, for Jumbo’s Less Sugar variant, also check the sugars and fibre listed per 100 g, the ingredients and the weight of a portion; compare these with similar spiced breakfast cake bars.
Yes, check the allergens for the exact variant on the current pack. The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority explains the labelling requirements for 14 allergens; also read any cross-contamination warnings that are relevant to your choice.
Check the pack again when you buy the product next time, especially if the ingredients or allergens matter to you. Albert Heijn says that product information for its spiced breakfast cake bar may change.
