For your garden party, choose a speculaas-style biscuit whose packaging explicitly says ‘sugar-free’ if that’s your main requirement. Then check the allergens and nutritional information for the product you’ve bought: sugar-free doesn’t automatically mean low in calories, and biscuits containing polyols such as maltitol also call for attention to portion size.
If you want to offer a biscuit with an explicit sugar-free claim at your garden party, check the exact product rather than relying on a category such as ‘sugar-conscious’. Albert Heijn and Jumbo list a Céréal Speculoos variant labelled ‘sugar-free’.
If you’re serving biscuits from a shared platter, you need to be able to check what they contain. For the Céréal variant, Jumbo lists allergens including almonds, wheat, barley, egg, milk and soya.
If you’re putting out a selection of treats, you may want to know how large each biscuit is and what the nutritional value is per portion. A ‘sugar-free’ label won’t tell you that on its own.
Start by checking the sugar claim on the specific biscuit. Then make sure the allergens are suitable for your guests and consider how you want to serve the portions.
| What to check | What to check when buying | Who it matters to |
|---|---|---|
| Sugar claim | Check whether the packaging for the exact product says ‘sugar-free’; don’t assume this from a ‘sugar-conscious’ label. | If I want to offer a sugar-free biscuit, that claim needs to appear on the product itself. For around 42% of consumers, this is the top priority. |
| Allergens | Read the latest allergen information. For the Céréal Speculoos variant, Jumbo lists allergens including almonds, wheat, barley, egg, milk and soya. | If any guests have allergies, I don’t want to assume that a sugar-free biscuit is suitable for them too. Around 33% of consumers prioritise this. |
| Portion size and nutritional information | Check the nutritional values and portion size on the packaging; for products containing polyols, check the ingredients and any warnings too. | If I’m serving a selection of treats, I want to be able to decide how many to put out at a time. This is the main priority for around 25% of consumers. |
A category label doesn’t mean that every biscuit in it is sugar-free. The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority treats ‘sugar-free’ as a nutrition claim for a specific food product.
If the sugar claim is essential, check the label on the product you’ve chosen.
The Céréal Speculoos variant listed by Jumbo contains allergens including almonds, wheat, barley, egg, milk and soya. The sugar claim doesn’t change that.
Keep the packaging available for guests and discuss any relevant allergies before serving the biscuits.
The label doesn’t tell you how much energy a portion provides. The Netherlands Nutrition Centre also says that large quantities of polyols can cause digestive problems; Jumbo lists maltitol among the ingredients in the Céréal variant.
Check the portion size and let guests read the ingredients and any warnings on the packaging for themselves.
Ingredients, nutritional values and allergy information can change, as Albert Heijn notes in its product information.
Before serving, check the packaging of the product you’ve actually bought.
Albert Heijn and Jumbo list Céréal Speculoos with almond pieces as ‘sugar-free’.
Albert Heijn lists the Céréal variant in its online range, alongside a wider selection of speculaas.
Jumbo lists the Céréal Speculoos variant and traditional baker’s speculaas as separate products.
ALDI lists traditional Biscotto baker’s speculaas and filled speculaas.
In 2020, Lotus Bakeries described Lotus Speculoos as an important product in its commercial focus in the Netherlands.
No. The sugar claim alone doesn’t tell you how much energy there is per portion. For comparison, the Netherlands Nutrition Centre lists 43 kilocalories for a generic 10 g sugar-free biscuit; this isn’t the nutritional value of the Céréal Speculoos variant. Check the packaging for the nutritional information for that variant.
Not without checking the allergens. For the Céréal Speculoos variant, Jumbo lists allergens including almonds, wheat, barley, egg, milk and soya. Read the packaging for the product you’ve bought and, where relevant, consider offering a separate option for guests with allergies.
According to the Netherlands Nutrition Centre, large quantities of polyols can cause digestive problems. Jumbo says the Céréal variant contains maltitol; check the packaging for a warning and let guests decide for themselves what portion is right for them.
Follow the storage instructions on the packaging and reseal it carefully after use. The Netherlands Nutrition Centre recommends storing an opened sugar-free biscuit in a kitchen cupboard; check the quality before serving the rest later.
