I like The Green People Company and I have enjoyed the other products of theirs that I have used, for example their toothpastes. However this Organic Peppermint Mouth Wash left a nasty taste in my mouth. I know that it’s not its job to taste nice, but rather to kill of  any lingering bacteria. But it’s also supposed to make my breath fresh and I’m not sure that The Green Company’s Organic Peppermint Mouth Wash does such a great job in that department. Not if my breath smells how this mouth wash tastes.

The Green People's Organic Peppermint Mouth Wash

I am used to having my head blown off by mouthwash that is so enthusiastically minty and antibacterial that it seems to want to melt my teeth rather than simply help to keep them clean. So Iâ??m no mouthwash wuss. But this is a bad taste. I have used it for over a week now, and each time I tell myself â??It canâ??t be that bad.â?� But it is.  It really is.

It starts off as neither good nor bad, as you swill it around your mouth. This lulled me into a false sense of security. The worst part occurs when you spit â?? there is a sudden and (for me) quite intense and unpleasant taste.

Itâ??s a hard taste to describe but I would say that it tastes of carrots, tainted with a taste that is reminiscent of the chemical smell you get often find at a vetâ??s surgery. There is also mint in the mix, but itâ??s one of the last and the faintest tastes you get, before youâ??re left with a mild but definitely bitter taste in your mouth.

Itâ??s not the way Iâ??d like my breath to smell.

Performance

It seems to do a good enough job â?? I havenâ??t noticed a plunge in the state of my mouth (apart from the cringing that my taste buds do when I go to use it.)

Ingredients

• Aqua (pure water, micro-filtered)
• Glycerin (derived from plant material)
• Ricinus communis (castor oil extract)
• *Mentha piperita (peppermint oil)
• *Citrus limonum (lemon oil)
• *Thymus vulgaris (thyme oil)
• Citrus nobilis
• Citrus aurantium bergamia
• Citrus aurantium dulcis, (a blend of citrus seed extract from mandarin, bergamot and , Citric acid (acidity regulator)
• d-Limonene (from essential oils)
• Citral (from essential oils)
• Linalool (from essential oils).

*Organically grown

Eco Product Conclusion â?? Taste: 2/5   Performance: 4/5

This is tough to evaluate because although I really dislike the taste (did I say that already?), what I like about this mouthwash is that it is organic, natural and doesnâ??t have any artificial sweeteners, petrochemicals and colorants, so it does do the job itâ??s designed to do, it just does it in a less than tasty fashion.

My mother cleans her teeth with tea tree oil, which tastes beyond foul but, according to her dentist, has produced very healthy teeth and gums (do not do this yourselves – I can’t vouch for how safe it is, the fact that it works does not mean that it’s good advice.)

Perhaps the trade-off in naturally antibactierial mouthwash is a bitter taste left in your mouth. Perhaps this is better than an artificially sweetened chemical mixutre with (potentially) more dubious effects.

I think I will remain on the look-out for a tastier natural mouthwash but I will finish the bottle before I try the next one.

If you know of any good natural mouthwashes that you think we should feature on this site, please tell us about them on the comments section or get in touch via feedback@minkbaby.co.uk

If you would like to try and review this mouthwash, (for FREE!) why not email me? ali@minkbaby.co.uk

InfamyInfamy Reviews 100% Natural Organic Peppermint & Myrrh Toothpaste for www.minkbaby.co.uk

We reviewed 100% Natural Organic Peppermint & Myrrh Toothpaste by The Green People Company back in late January 2009, as a part of my 30 Day Vegan Pledge. InfamyInfamy got in touch and asked if she could try it out too, and we said, “Of course you can!” and sent some to her in a trice! This is her review:

100% Natural Organic Peppermint & Myrrh Toothpaste

Why did you want to try this organic toothpaste for the first time?

I wanted to try this product because I had tried another [organic] toothpaste in the dim distant past and it tasted & felt like chalk! I was hoping that the product had progressed from this and this particular one had.

Does this toothpaste represent value for money?

The Green People 100% natural toothpaste costs £3.19 which is obviously slightly dearer than everyday brands but only by pence. I have used it twice a day for two weeks and have used very little as only a pea size blob is needed.

Where would you buy this toothpaste from?

I have not researched it’s availability but it can be purchased from www.greenpeople.co.uk and during March they are offering free postage.

Does it seem to come from an eco/natural/organic type company to you?

• From their website you get the feeling of that element of care.
• The packaging is recyclable although I question the need for an outer box for the tube when other companies have just started selling the tubes alone.
• Their products are handmade and certified organic.
• The branding of the product is straight forward and no nonsense.
• It feels ethically sound using the item although I have found it does take getting used to.

What did you think of the toothpasteâ??s appearance, texture and general usability?

• It is easy and clean to use. Just the right consistency to avoid blobs!
• It is hard to acclimatise yourself to not tasting the normal mint toothpastes and the colour is browny grey instead of white which again takes time getting used to.

How did this toothpaste perform?

• The toothpaste does work well and cleans your teeth as well as other products.
• I have not had any difficulties with bad breath and my teeth have felt clean, so all is good.

Would you recommend this toothpaste to others?

I would recommend this product to others especially my vegan friends.

InfamyInfamy received her tube of Natural Organic Peppermint & Myrrh Toothpaste in return for her PitRok Review.

Once she tells us what she’d like to review next, we will send her something else to try in return for this lovely toothpaste review! That’s how it works – why not try it yourself!

Currently we have five more tubes of this toothpaste to give away in return for suitable eco product reviews.

For further details on how to swap eco reviews for free eco products please email ali@minkbaby.co.uk

Why Eco Disposable Nappies?

Landfills Fill Me With Dread As I Fill Them With Disposable Nappies...

I mentioned in my first blog post that one of the things I was concerned about while subject to my bouts of eco-worrying, was the amount of disposable nappies I send to landfill.

It is (perceived) convenience that makes me love the disposable nappy – so sleek, so easy to dispose of (short-term anyway), they have pretty pictures on and they don’t need washing, they keep your baby dry and happy, if only they weren’t so indestructable in themselves, and destructive to the environment as a result!

I was hoping I could find an equally convenient disposable eco-friendly nappy, so that I could put one of my major eco-worries to bed.

Hence the review of eco-friendly disposable nappies at www.minkbaby.co.uk!

Why Eco Disposables? What about cloth nappies?

Cloth Nappies - Eco Friendly Too?

I thought about continuing to use the modern style of cloth nappies, which we used when Georgie was very little (she is currently 19 months). This is why I decided to see if I could find a genuinely eco-friendly nappy before thinking about cloth nappies again:

• I noticed that Georgie tended to get more uncomfortable and had more nappy rash with washable nappies than with disposable, especially at night. I could just have been doing it wrong, and I will look at cloth nappies at another time.

• Crèches generally will not accept babies in cloth nappies

• Extra water, chemicals and energy are used when washing baby nappies at home

• Disposables are more convenient for today’s busy lifestyle

• Not everyone has access to a ‘nappy service’

• Independent studies confirm that ordinary disposables and washable nappies are equally damaging to the environment, even if they use different resources.

[most of the above bullet points were found at www.ecobaby.ie - I had my doubts about how truly eco friendly cloth nappies were and ecobaby seems to be able to confirm those doubts as being reasonable]

So I thought that I should find out more about eco-friendly disposable nappies.

How will Eco Disposables Shape Up Compared With Leading Non-Eco Brands?

Good Question...

I must admit I was slightly concerned about the idea of using eco-disposable nappies. I really do have in my mind that being eco-friendly must involve a great deal of inconvenience, suffering second best in a noble fashion for the sake of the environment. This appears to be my deep-seated belief, and probably does account for my tendency to eco-freak-out in the face of positive, eco-friendly change.

I have been very happy to go with supermarket disposable nappies, and just before I started this trial with Moltex, I had been using Morrissons nappies, which ever ones were cheaper at the time. However in the two weeks leading up to this review, I had been using Huggies because my parents were kind enough to buy us a great big box from Costco.

These Huggies are pretty, and they feel nice, and you’d think they’d be great because they are a leading brand. But you know what? These Huggies leaked overnight nine nights out of fourteen

Now to be totally fair, there may be many reasons for this that don’t relate to the efficiency of Huggies – perhaps we just needed to go up a size, for example. I considered this, and did some internet research.

I was looking for impartial reviews and found myself mummy blogs and mums forums. My pot-luck research seemed to suggest that despite their world domination, Huggies and Pampers are not necessarily as good as you might think. In fact in general, Tesco nappies appeared to get the most votes from informal consumer trials that have been conducted by UK mums up and down the country. I considered using Tesco disposable nappies, but to my knowledge, they aren’t eco-friendly. So I decided to give the eco-friendly disposable nappies a go.

The first ones I decided to try were the Moltex Oko Eco Nappies, which, are said to be as good as leading brands – I hope that’s true!

Before we get into how they performed, let’s look at why you should use them – what are Moltex’s eco-credentials?

Moltex Eco Nappies – What Makes Them So Eco-Friendly?

Features and Benefits

Moltex Eco Nappies Are Compostable

Imagine, a nappy that doesn't take up landfil but simply breaks down into harmless materials

The first thing that attracted me to try these nappies was the fact that they are compostable- in fact you can even put them in a wormery and turn them into excellent garden fertiliser, if you’re so inclined!

I am thinking that if these nappies compost, then as long as I use compostable nappy sacks, I should be able to put these nappies straight into our Green Bins (where the compostable rubbish goes for collection.) I’m going to check with my local authority about that though, before I go recommending it as something we all should do!

Anyway, these nappies have proven to breakdown to make excellent compost within 8 to 10 weeks in a wormery. Now all I need is a wormery…

Moltex Eco Nappies – As effective as leading brands

As I mentioned before, Moltex Eco Nappies have been reported to be at least as effective as leading brands. This is definitely heartening.

Moltex Eco Nappies – Do Not Contain Substances That Are Harmful to People or the Environment

[The following information was taken from and excellent review of Moltex Eco Nappies by The Nappy Tree which you can read in full here.]

“The impact of disposable nappies is directly related to the substances used in the manufacture of the nappy, the amount of resources used, how well the nappy works (how many are needed daily) and the method of disposal.

The Moltex Eco nappy is good news on all of these fronts:

No perfumes, lotions, antioxidants, or TBT, which is much better for sensitive skin.

The synthetic perfumes used in many conventional disposables to combat odour can be harmful to sensitive skin. Ironically, the bleach residues or other chemicals found in many disposables can react with urine, causing odours other than those naturally associated with baby, hence the perfumes.

Synthetic lotions are put into some nappies. These are like oils and are meant to be waterproof, but become rancid over time. Chemical antioxidants are added to lotions to make them stay fresh longer. Moltex Eco nappies have no lotions, and no need for antioxidants, which is better for baby, and better for the environment.

TBT (tributyl tin) is an environmental pollutant with a hormone-like effect. The smallest concentrations of TBT can harm people’s immune systems and impair their hormonal system

(Taken from a report by Greenpeace – 19 May 2000. Full details of the report can be found here.)

Tea leaf extract to reduce odour & irritation

Moltex Eco Nappies use pure natural green tea leaf to help minimise odour, which has also proven very effective in protecting against fungi, viruses and yeast, which can cause nappy rash. It naturally contains cell constructing substances such as vitamins A, B and C which are essential for cell metabolism.

Unbleached wood pulp

Moltexâ??s Eco Nappies are beige in colour as they are manufactured using 50% unbleached wood pulp and 50% ecf ( elementary chlorine free ) bleached wood pulp, reported to be the least polluting type of quality paper available.

100% degradable packaging

Packaging used for Moltexâ??s Eco Nappies is made using 100% degradable maize starch and has perforations for easy re-use as a compost or bin bag.”

Minkaby Eco Product Review: Moltex Oko Eco Nappies – *****

Moltex Biodegradable Eco Nappies

I found these nappies to be excellent – when I was using them there was no leakage, no nappy rash, they stayed on fine and they basically did exactly what they were supposed to do.

To be fair, plenty of regular disposable nappies would do just as well, most at a cheaper price – but that’s just the point – we cannot afford to keep filling the land with poisonous substances that will not break down quickly and safely. Moltex Oko Eco Nappies break down in such a way that they are not only not a pollutant but when composted they actually become a resource – fertiliser!

I am going to test out other eco nappies before fixing on one brand but I am comitted to making our family budget work around a good eco disposbale nappy like this one, so that I can have my convenient disposable nappies without the eco worry.

Are you a mother of a baby or a nappy-wearing toddler?

Would you like to try Moltex Oko Eco Nappies and/or other eco disposables?

If you would be prepared to write a detailed, fair-minded review for www.minkbaby.co.uk, we would be happy to supply you with some eco nappies to try for free.

If you are interested, email ali@minkbaby.co.uk to find out more!

Related Articles:

• Why Use Moltex Oko Nappies? By The Nappy Tree
• Ecobaby on Composting Moltex Eco Nappies
• Students Win Environmental Award For Studyies in the Composting of Moltex Oko Eco Nappies
• Eco Nappies and Vermicomposting
• How to Make Your Own Wormery
• How to Tell When an Eco Nappy is NOT an Eco Nappy

www.Junk4Funk.co.uk

What is Junk4Funk all about?

Victor Scott has been a professional drummer for over thirty years, playing kit drums in bands during the 80s and then more recently working as a drum teacher in a range of environments.

He conceived Junk4Funk as a fun way of getting the recycling message across to his audience and gives workshops in schools and the wider community.

What is the format of Junk4Funk?

Victor uses a kind of drumming circle, divided into three different sections, and explores the musical possibilities of recycled percussion through samba and African rhythms.

He has built up a weird and wonderful collection of junk instruments which are used in the sessions, and all participants are encouraged to make/create/collect their own instruments from re-cycled materials such as cans and bottles.

Junk4Funk – What’s the point?

Although it may seem at first to be a quirky, even gimmicky approach to music, in fact Victorâ??s sessions teach legitimate elements of the Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 curriculum as set out in the National Curriculum for Music.

Not only does the construction and use of recycled instruments provide a point of interest for session participants, but Victor is currently interested in developing the idea of junk/recycled percussion as a means of exploring environmental issues, which is something that we at Minkbaby would be keen to hear more about.

Junk4Funk Commissioned to Compose Re-Cycled Music Piece

Junk4funk will be working with four schools in St Albans, Herts, druing the second week of February, culminating in a performance in St.Albans Town Centre on February 14th 2009.

Under the title “Love Your Planet!”  a short piece of Re-Cycled/Junk Music will be composed for the event and performed by the school-children on instruments they have made themselves from Re-Cycled/Waste sources.

Minkbaby will be in attendance to lend its support to Junk4Funk and to have a chat to Victor and find out more about the project, so if you live in or around the St Albans area, why not stop by and see what all the noise is about!

As you are probably aware, the government has approved that third runway for Heathrow airport.

But it’s not over.

As Greenpeace says:

Regardless of what the government has said today, this new runway is far from inevitable and with you’re help we are going to confront them every step of the way. We already have over 13,000 people signed up as beneficial owners on the plot of land on the third runway site and we won’t be giving it back anytime soon. ["Government gives green light to third runway", Greenpeace]

So sign up now for your piece of the plot – just because the government has lost it, it doesn’t mean the rest of us have to. I’ve got mine piece – get yours now!

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CO2 emissions caused by surfing the web could be about to bite us in the behind

How much CO2 did you create in finding this site and reading these words? How much will I have produced by the time I have finished writing this article?

Before today it isn’t something that I would have really considered, past the energy consumption of my PC and other computer peripherals, of course. And I have been looking for the right eco gadgets to purchase that help me cut down on those emissions (eco reviews on this subject are forthcoming.)

But I never gave a thought to the apparatus that makes the internet possible, that is powered up 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Until now.

According to Jonâ??s Swaineâ??s article in the Telelgraph today

â??[m]aking two internet searches through Google produces about the same amount of carbon dioxide as boiling a kettle, it has been estimated.â?�â??Googling has ‘a very definite environmental impact’ according to research conducted by a physicist from Harvard Universityâ?�

[â?¦]

“Google are very efficient but their primary concern is to make searches fast and that means they have a lot of extra capacity that burns energy,”

But of course it’s not just Google causing all this CO2 – this is just a part of increased alarm about the relatively little-known environmental impact of computer and internet use.

‘According to Gartner, an American research firm, IT now causes about two per cent of global CO2 emissions and its carbon footprint exceeded that of the world’s aviation industry for the first time in 2007.

Google claimed that the number was “many times too high” and one Google search is equivalent to about 0.2 grams of CO2, saying:

“We are among the most efficient of all internet search providers.”‘

[to read Jon Swaineâ??s article Two Google searches 'produce same CO2 as boiling a kettle', in full click here]

So what can we do? Must we stop using the internet? Should we ration ourselves to a certain amount of time per day? Perhaps we should. It’s not welcome news, that’s for sure, but part of the solution to global warming is about us weaning ourselves off our energy addiction and looking for cleaner sources of energy.

An article in The Times, “How you can help reduce the footprint of the Webâ?�, offers additional steps that can be taken by web consumers:

â??[Y]ou can make a difference. Over the years, Internet users have become accustomed to demanding certain levels of service from the websites that they visit. It is now de rigueur for e-commerce sites to present badges certifying that their credit card processing systems are secure.

Savvy users even know to watch for certification that sites they visit are safe from hacker attacks and that have audited privacy policies to protect their identities.Websites now need to be put under pressure to clean up their environmental impacts too and demonstrate that their sites are as green as they can be.â?�

Which begs the question, what can website owners do to satisfy their users that they are making sure that their sites are eco-friendly? Dr Alexander Wissner-Gross, from whom a great deal of this information on the harmful emissions generated by surfing the internet has come, is a physicist & Environmental Fellow at Harvard University.

off-set site emissions here

His website, www.CO2Stats.com, is designed to help webmasters and bloggers to make their sites greener in an auditable way.

Watch this space â?? we shall be investigating his site and any others that can offer us a way to track and off-set the carbon emissions of www.minkbaby.co.uk.

Organic Waffles, anyone?

The Mink Baby and I had a stressful morning today, during which she managed to get her little 18 month old finger caught in the door handle of my car. I don’t know how she got her finger in there but the only way I could see to get it out without compressing it further was to pull the finger out (out of the door, not from out of her little baby hand,) which led to a bleeding and bruised baby finger, a howling little Mink Baby and one MInk Mama at the end of her rope.

Having tried to calm her by administering a plaster with cartoons on,  giving her milk, her favourite bear (Spencer), “In the Night Garden” and her favourite Paddington book, all to no avail, a still sobbing Georgie agreed to stop crying if she could see her Nanny.

Nanny

After some ringing around it transpired that Nanny was located at her swimming morning, with The Salmon Club, where she (thankfully) was not swimming but rather sitting on the door, checking people in and out.

So off we went to Nanny, who proved to be an excellent remedy for Georgie’s damaged finger (so if you ever hurt your finger and can’t stop crying, and you don’t have your own nanny to hand, we can rent Nanny out to you for a minimal fee…)

To thank Nanny for all her finger-kissing, Georgie the Mink Baby and Ali the Mink Mama took her out to lunch at The Waffle House in St Albans, where she had recently said she wanted to go, and where I knew I could get a delicious, vegan-friendly spelt waffle, with houmous, avocado and chilli sauce.

(Or so I thought – I checked with the waitress and was assured that everything I ordered was vegan friendly – only later did it occur to me that this person may not know what is vegan and what is not, so I’ll be giving them a  call to check later, after the lunch rush. I do know that they are a vegan-friendly establishment from reading this, however I also read this, which made me think perhaps I was wrong to eat the waffle, even though I asked for a spelt one. I will find out and update this review as soon as I can find out what the score is – I’m new to this, so bear with me!)

I have discovered that waffles are great. I don’t own a waffle iron but from what I can tell from the back of the packet, Birdseye Potato Waffles (besides being waffley versatile,) go really well with almost anything I want to eat (and sometimes with absolutely nothing on them.) So I am always up for waffles (as long as they’re vegan, of course.)

The Waffle House in St Albans has been around for over twenty five years, specialising in delicious sweet and savoury Belgian waffles with many organic and free range ingrediants. They are eco-conscious, child-friendly. What more could you possibly need?

The service was good and pretty fast, considering how busy they were already (we got there about midday). They are usually very busy between 12 and 3, especially in the summer, so be warned!

One thing I love about The Waffle House is that it is close to town, so you can pop in for lunch there and then go shopping, or you can go shopping and then pop in there for lunch.

Likewise, you can take your kids to Verulamium Park to feed the ducks and play on the swings, wear them out and then take them to the Waffle House for lunch (the kids, not the ducks).  By this point, the children should hopefully be too tired and hugnry to do anything but eat! Perfect.

Or you can take your children to The Waffle House for lunch, after which they fall asleep (if they are young enough) and you can go for a peaceful walk into the park, the pub, into town etc. If they are too old to fall asleep, you can take them to the park and let them run it out before going home. You get the idea.

Of course you don’t need to have children to go there. People without children can also enjoy The Waffle House.

If you find yourself in the area (St Albans in Hertfordshire, England) then you should definitely check it out, (or you could try The Waffle House in Norwich, which is the same company) whether you’re vegan, vegetarian or an eco-conscious omnivore.

Have you been to The Waffle House, either in St Albans or Norwich?

What did you think? Why not leave a comment and let us know?

Or email me at ali@minkbaby.co.uk

Related Articles:

Reviews of The Waffle House, St Albans, from TheRestaurant.Guide.com

Reviews of THe Waffle House from VeggiePlaces.co.uk

I have been hearing about this amazing eco fridge  that was invented by a 21 year old student in a potting shed, on the radio all day, so I decided to have a look around on the web and find out if what I was hearing was actually true.

As it turns out, what I had been hearing wasn’t strictly true. I think www.treehugger.com summarises it best:

“Congratulations to Emily Cummins for building a portable evaporator fridge out of household parts in her grandpa’s potting shed. The Daily Mail claims that she has “invented an Amazing Solar Powered Fridge,” which would be a terrific thing if it was a) solar powered and b) she invented it.”

To read the rest of their article click here.

The important thing here, as far as I’m concerned, is not who invented it first.

To me, the main exitement , the real ‘news’ is that someone who is obviously young and talented is interested in solving human problems in an eco-friendly fashion rather than chasing cash.

“I do want to use my skills to make a difference. I’m not interested in making a bigger TV or greater sound system. I want to create change for the better.”

[Reported by The Telegraph]

According to what I have read and heard, it seems safe to say that basically Emily has improved upon an existing design, she plans to further improve upon it and make sure that people who wouldn’t ordinarily have access to an actual fridge, can benefit from it.

If you’re really interested, why not hear it straight from the horses mouth?

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Plamil Organic Chocolate Spread

I know I’m posting a lot of about vegan food, but these are the eco products I’m buying the most at the moment.

There wll be more gadgets to come but for now, to the important things in (my) life, the important questions, such as what does a vegan eat when she has a chocolate jones on?

Answer – Plamil Organic Chocolate Spread.

Before I get into my review, let’s look at the product and its manufacturer in more detail…

Plamil Organic Chocolate Spread – Background Information

This chocolate spread is made by Plamil Foods Ltd, an award-winning company who produces products that exclusively avoid using animal, dairy and egg products, so they are all suitable for vegans. Furthermore, all their products are nut and gluten free.

Plamil Foods Ltd are also very eco-conscious:

“Ethics are always high on the agenda with us, that’s why we score so highly in magazines such as Ethical Consumer. For us it’s not just about sourcing ingredients but it’s through the whole way we do business. We’re proud of the fact that all the energy we use to make our products, even to run our computers, is all sourced from 100% renewable source.” [link]

Plamil Organic Chocolate Spread -Taste Test

I have sampled a reasonable amount of allegedly chocolate flavoured products that are also suitable for vegans. I have liked some of them and will post about them later.

This one goes first because Plamil Organic Chocolate Spread is the very first one I have tried that I have not only liked, but that tastes so good, I’m willing to bet your wouldn’t know it wasn’t normal chocolate if no one told you.

The only thing that really differentiates it from regular chocolate spread, sensation-wise, is the texture, which is kind of firm, which can make it a little harder to spread than regular chocolate spread, especially if your kitchen is very cold. Also its texture is a little grainy for a chocolate spread in comparison with most chocolate spreads that I have tasted, such as, for example, Nutella.

The kind of cake I aspired to make with Plamil Organic Chocolate Spread

I haven’t tried to bake with this spread yet, but I expect that warming it will help and mixing it into other creamier products will make it smoother – I was thinking a chocolate cream mixture to go inside the Ogran Gluten Free Chocolate Cake Mix that arrived (finally!) with all my other goodies from Goodness Direct.

Apparently Plamil Organic Chocolate Spread is also good for spreading on your lover…(not sure there’ll be any left by the time my husband gets home…)

Don’t get me wrong though – Plamil Organic Chocolate Spread tastes so rich and chocolatey that I would be very surprised if anyone who usually liked chocolate was put off by an unexpected but entirely unoffensive texture.

Ingredients

Raw Sugar*
Sunflower Oil*
Cocoa powder (13%)*
Soya Flour*
Palm Fat*
Emulsifier: – sunflower lecithin

* from controlled organic agriculture, which benefit both the local population and environment. Organic Certification UKS.

Nutritional Information (Typical Values per 100g)

Energy           580  kcal
Protein              8.3g
Carbohydrate  48.4g
Fat                  40.2g

Eco Snack Conclusion – 4/5

I really like it! In an ideal world it would be easier to spread and smoother. If they could do that, it would be a 5/5 for sure!

£2.18 Plamil Foods

£2.15 mungodeli (Limited delivery options)

£2.40 Goodness Direct

Related Articles

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Would you like the chance to try Plamil Organic Chocolate Spread for free?

Contact me now to find out how!

ali@minkbaby.co.uk

O Bar - Blueberry & Vanilla

In the interests of planning ahead, so as not to be caught hungry in a vegan-unfriendly zone, I decided to stock up on some snacks that I could stow in my bag, car and kitchen cupboards.

I already carry little boxes of raisins around with me everywhere I go, as a toddler without snacks can be a very dangerous and loud creature indeed. So a few more snacks won’t make much difference.

Surprisingly, I found a couple of likely contenders in my local Morrisons, of all places. I hate that place as a rule but my order from Goodness Direct is taking simply ages, and Morrisons have been surprising me lately by stocking several vegan-friendly products.

Anyway, what I had found was a couple of O Bars, one in Blueberry & Vanilla and one in Pomegranate & Raspberry.

The O Bar Concept

“O is Zero, nothing, zilch – as in no added sugar, no dairy, [no eggs,] [no meat derivatives] and no wheat, but loaded with fruit, a moist and chewy bar.”

Who Makes O Bars?

O Bars are made by Kingsbake, which is a division of First Quality Foods. Kingsbake is a purpose built bakery that specialises in the production of cereal bars that are aimed at markets that are:

• Aimed at food allergy aware consumers
• Using non-hydrogenated fats (trans-free)
• Superfoods and superfruits – fibre rich, antioxidant rich ingredients
• Organic and Fair Trade capabilities
• Wholefoods and wholegrain ingredients
• Functional ingredients: Omega 3, cholesterol reducing, prebiotics, and others

The O Bar Taste Test – Blueberry & Vanilla

I was working on a post for this site and hadn’t eaten any lunch. I couldn’t be bothered to eat, let alone make something to eat, so I reached for one of these – the Blueberry & Vanilla one, and hoped it would sort me out. And believe me it did!

It was sweet, but not overpowering. It was like a really smooth, moist, fruity flap jack. The consistency was firm to the bite, but easy to chew – I think my daughter would like one (but there’s none left!)

I think it could also be really nice as a dessert – maybe warmed up, with some kind of vegan yoghurt or custard on it…mmmm

Ingredients

Sultanas (36%), oats (25%), oat bran (7%), apricots (13%), non-hydrogenated vegetable margarine, freeze dried blueberries (1%), flavouring, vanilla

Nutritional Information per bar

Energy 173 kcal
Protein 4.0g
Carbohydrates 32.0g, (of which sugars 15.5g)
Fat 5.1g, (of which saturates 0.9g)
Fibre 3.2g
Sodium 0.034g

Eco Snack Review Conculsion

If you aren’t sure, I loved the Blueberry & Vanilla O Bar and am looking forward to try the rest – I’ll post about it when I do!

Would you like the chance to try a Blueberry & Vanilla O Bar for free?

Get in touch now to find out how!

Email me at ali@minkbaby.co.uk

Where to buy Blueberry & Vanilla O Bars

£0.75 Vegan Store

£0.81 Goodness Direct

£0.85 Real Food Direct

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