Traybakes: Nutritional Content and Consumer Views on Portion Size

Consumers in Northern Ireland (NI) are eating too much saturated fat and sugar which can have detrimental health effects. With a commitment to improving the nutritional quality of foods available to consumers, the Food Standards Agency (FSA) and local council Environmental Health teams in NI sampled three popular types of traybake and sent them for nutritional analysis. Following this, the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise (CAFRE) investigated consumer acceptability of traybake portion sizes. Environmental health officers collected 59 traybake samples for nutritional analysis. The traybake types sampled, Fifteens, Rocky Roads and Caramel Squares, were generally high in energy (230kcal to 1,026kcal per portion), saturated fat (4.9g to 29.7g per portion) and total sugar (17.7g to 103.2g per portion). Some traybakes contained more than the maximum amount of saturated fat and sugar recommended per day. Traybake weight varied significantly, ranging from 44.7g to 217.3g per portion. Weight was a key driver of the energy, saturated fat, and total sugar content of the traybakes. Consumer perceptions of small, medium and large traybake portions and purchasing attitudes were investigated using sensory analyses and consumer focus groups. Almost half (43%) of participants reported consuming traybakes once per week. The largest portion size of each traybake type was the least preferred option by participants. Participants reported that displaying nutritional information on packs may help influence their choices and that a gradual reduction in portion size could reduce the energy content of sweet snacks with little consumer impact. Consumer preference for smaller portion sizes of traybake products presents a reformulation opportunity that could be used by food businesses to produce smaller options that are lower in calories, saturated fat and sugar.