For street festival snacks, choose toast labelled as wholemeal and compare the fibre per 100 g and per planned portion, the salt, allergens and pack size on the label. According to the Netherlands Nutrition Centre, wholegrain products contain more fibre than white-grain products, but a larger pack says nothing about nutritional value or whether it is suitable for guests with an allergy.
You want to choose wholemeal rather than white toast for festival snacks and find out how much fibre your planned portion contains. As a general guide, the Netherlands Nutrition Centre gives 0.5 g of fibre for one 6 g wholemeal toast; check the packaging for the value of the product you choose.
You’re making snacks for several people and want to match the pack size to the number of toast pieces you need. Jumbo lists Van der Meulen Melba Wholemeal Toast in a 120 g pack and Jos Poell Wholemeal Toast in a 90 g pack. Also check the number of pieces if it’s shown on the packaging.
You’re serving toast to guests with an allergy or specific dietary requirements and want to know what the variant you’ve chosen contains. Check the current ingredients list and allergen information. The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority says that allergens are listed in the ingredients list.
First, choose a suitable wholemeal toast and work out how many snacks you want to make. Then compare the nutritional information and ingredients on the packs you’re considering.
| What to consider | What should you check? | Who is this most important for? |
|---|---|---|
| Wholemeal and fibre | Look for the wholemeal label and compare fibre per 100 g and per planned portion on the packaging. | I want to serve wholemeal toast and know how much fibre my portion contains; around 50% of consumers would put wholemeal and fibre first when choosing. |
| Pack size and portions | Compare the pack weight and, if stated, the number of pieces with the number of snacks you plan to make. | When I’m making snacks for a group, I want enough toast pieces without having lots left over; around 33% of consumers would make a suitable portion size their top priority. |
| Ingredients and allergens | Read the current ingredients list, allergen information and any warnings on the pack. | For a guest with an allergy, I want to know what the toast contains before serving it; around 17% of consumers would prioritise checking ingredients and allergens above all else. |
Appearance won’t tell you how much fibre a piece of toast contains. According to the Netherlands Nutrition Centre, wholegrain products contain more fibre than white-grain products, but the amount per piece can vary from one product to another.
Check that it’s labelled wholemeal and compare the fibre per 100 g and per portion on the packaging.
A 120 g pack is heavier than a 90 g pack, but without the weight or number of toast pieces per pack, you can’t work out exactly how many snacks it will make. The pack weight also tells you nothing about the fibre or salt in each piece.
Decide how many snacks you want to make, then check the pack size, the number of pieces if stated, and the nutritional information.
Wholemeal doesn’t tell you which allergens a particular toast contains. A cracker alternative may also contain different ingredients: Bolletje lists wheat, barley and sesame in its Lichte Crackers Volkoren.
Check the ingredients and allergens on every pack you buy, and keep the packaging handy when serving the snacks.
The Netherlands Nutrition Centre describes bread made with iodised baker’s salt as an important source of iodine in the Netherlands, but bakers aren’t required to use baker’s salt. So you can’t be sure which salt a particular type of toast contains.
Check the label or ask the manufacturer which salt is used if this matters to your choice.
Jumbo lists Van der Meulen Melba Wholemeal Toast in a 120 g pack.
Jumbo lists Jos Poell Wholemeal Toast in a 90 g pack.
ALDI Netherlands lists wholemeal toast as one of the types in its toast range.
Bolletje Lichte Crackers Volkoren is a cracker alternative if you don’t specifically need toast.
Check that it’s labelled wholemeal and compare the fibre per 100 g and per planned portion on the packaging. According to the Netherlands Nutrition Centre, an average 6 g wholemeal toast contains 0.5 g of fibre; for your portion, check the nutritional information of the product you buy.
As a general guide, the Netherlands Nutrition Centre gives 0.5 g of fibre and 0.11 g of salt for one 6 g wholemeal toast. These aren’t fixed values for every brand or size, so compare the nutritional information per 100 g and per portion on the pack.
Read the ingredients list, allergen information and any warnings on the current packaging of the toast you’re serving. The Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority says that allergens are listed in the ingredients list. Don’t rely solely on the product name or packaging you looked at previously.
No, don’t automatically assume that a particular type of toast does. The Netherlands Nutrition Centre says that bakers aren’t required to use baker’s salt; check the label or ask the manufacturer which salt is used in that variant.
