The lowest-calorie supermarket Easter eggs have been revealed – as the treat-filled holiday approaches.
Analyzing 90 offers in stores across the UK, sports and nutrition site Bulk (www.bulk.com/uk/protein.html) revealed which festive options contained the fewest calories from a list of 20.
Moo Free’s Bunnycomb Egg takes the top spot with a total of 454 kcal per pack.
It is followed by the Kinder Surprise egg, which contains 579 kcal. Elsewhere, selections from Sainsbury’s, Thorntons and Bounty are also included.
The calorie content, grams of sugar in the whole egg, and any additional chocolate or sweets included in the package were taken into account.
A spokesperson for Bulk, however, stressed that enjoying chocolate at Easter is unlikely to “completely ruin your weight loss goals”.
“Weight gain tends to occur over a much longer period of time, so even if you eat beyond your body’s daily calorie intake for several days, you are unlikely to see weight gain. noticeable fat,” they explained.
“However, if you still intend to be careful with your chocolate consumption this Easter, consider purchasing several smaller Easter eggs rather than just one large one.
“This way you can eat the whole Easter egg in one sitting, guilt-free, while still satisfying your sugar cravings.”
Here, FEMAIL takes a close look at the five lowest-calorie Easter offerings…
1. Bunnycomb Moo Free Easter Egg (85g), £4.50 – 454kcal
The supermarket Easter egg with the lowest calories, according to Bulk, is the Moo Free Bunnycomb Easter Egg – with a total of 454 kcal per packet.
Weighing just 85g, it features a hollow dairy-free egg with ash caramel pieces.
But experts revealed that ‘the whole Easter eggs also contained 40.8g of sugar, which is 36% more than the recommended daily intake of 30g, advised by the NHS.’
2. Kinder Surprise Egg (100g), £4.50 – 579kcal
Easter Egg | Total calories (kcal) per entire item | Total sugar per whole item (g) | |
---|---|---|---|
Moo Free Bunny Nest Easter Egg (85g) | 454 | 40.8 | |
Kinder Surprise Egg (100g) | 579 | 53.6 | |
Sainsbury’s Large Belgian Dark Chocolate Easter Egg, Taste the Difference (150g) | 794 | 62.4 | |
NOMO Caramel-Filled Easter Eggs and Bar (148g) | 815 | 51.3 | |
Thorntons Milk Chocolate Dinosaur Easter Egg (151g) | 823 | 81.5 | |
Sainsbury’s Large Belgian Milk Chocolate Easter Egg, Taste the Difference (150g) | 827 | 78.5 | |
Sainsbury’s Belgian White Chocolate Egg, Taste the Difference (150g) | 836 | 83.4 | |
Thorntons Milk Chocolate Unicorn Easter Egg (151g) | 850 | 77.5 | |
Nomo Free From Fudge Easter Egg and Bunny (160g) | 862 | 57.5 | |
Thorntons White Chocolate Rabbit Egg (151g) | 862 | 86.1 | |
Bounty Coconut Milk Chocolate Easter Egg with 2 Fun Size Bars (207g) | 930 | 101.0 | |
Waitrose Orange Ribbon Easter Egg (163g) | 944 | 69.1 | |
Milkybar white chocolate egg (180g) | 966 | 99.4 | |
Large Skittles Milk Chocolate Easter Egg (195g) | 970 | 120.0 | |
Rowntree’s Easter Egg Fruit Pastilles (200g) | 973 | 121.3 | |
Large Smarties Milk Chocolate Easter Egg (188g) | 974 | 113.4 | |
Smarties Orange Flavored Chocolate Egg (188g) | 974 | 113.9 | |
Maltesers Teasers Milk Chocolate Large Easter Egg (185g) | 977 | 106.0 | |
Cadbury Wispa Large Chocolate Easter Egg (182.5g) | 981 | 101.6 | |
Aero Chocolate Easter Egg (186g) | 988 | 110.4 | |
Source: Bulk.com |
The Easter egg with the second lowest calorie count turned out to be the Kinder Surprise Egg, which contained a total of 579 calories per package.
The Easter egg with the second lowest calorie count turned out to be the Kinder Surprise Egg, which contained a total of 579 calories per package.
This featured a 100g hollow milk chocolate egg, with a white chocolate lining.
“The Easter egg contains 53.6 g of sugar in total, the third lowest amount of sugar of all Easter eggs included in the analysis,” Bulk found.
Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Large Belgian Dark Chocolate Easter Egg
3. Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Belgian Dark Chocolate Large Easter Egg (150g), £4.50 -794kcal
In third place was Sainsbury’s Taste the Difference Belgian Dark Chocolate Large Egg.
It contains 794 calories per pack.
The product contains a hollow dark chocolate egg of 150 g.
The design also includes grooves along the chocolate shell.
“The total product contains a total of 62.4 g of sugar,” the analysis reveals.
This is reportedly “the fifth lowest quantity of all Easter eggs included in the list.”
4. NOMO Free From Caramel Easter Egg and Caramel Bar (148g), £6.50 – 815kcal
The whole egg contains 619 calories, while the extra confection also contains 196 calories.
The NOMO Free From Caramel Stuffed Egg and Bar is the fourth lowest calorie Easter egg, with a total of 815 calories per pack.
This dairy-free offering comes with a hollow caramel-flavored milk chocolate egg as well as a milk chocolate bar filled with vegan caramel.
The whole egg contains 619 calories, while the extra confection contains 196 calories.
According to Bulk, it contains a total of 51.3g of sugar, which is “the second lowest amount of all the Easter eggs included on the list.”
5. Thorntons Milk Chocolate Dinosaur Easter Egg (151g), £3 – 823kcal
Thorntons Milk Chocolate Dinosaur Easter Egg is the fifth lowest in calories, with a total of 823 calories per pack, according to the analysis.
The egg – made from milk and white chocolate – contains 81.5g of sugar, which is “more than double the recommended daily intake”.
Thorntons Milk Chocolate Dinosaur Easter Egg is the fifth lowest in calories, with a total of 823 calories per pack, according to the analysis.
It comes as sales of Easter eggs fell by 600,000 units in response to rising prices and falling inflation.
The drop equates to a 12 per cent reduction compared to the equivalent period last year and equates to a drop in sales of £200,000.
The details were revealed following revelations from the Daily Mail and Which? that manufacturers are reducing the size of their Easter eggs and raising prices.
Industry executives blame rising costs and climate change, which have affected cocoa harvests in West Africa.
This year the Mars Large Milk Chocolate Egg was reduced from 252g to 201g, a reduction of 20 per cent, but the price remained the same at £3.
The Twix Milk Chocolate Easter Egg has been reduced from 246g to 200g and the Galaxy Minstrels Easter Egg has been reduced from 234g to 192g.
Last year, Cadbury sold the Dairy Milk Fruit and Nut Inclusions Chocolate Egg with a weight of 532g. This year the closest equivalent weighs 400g.
The Nestlé Smarties Large Orange Easter Egg has gone from 226g to 188g, and the Large Yorkie Milk Chocolate Easter Egg has gone from 242g to 196g.
It comes as Easter egg sales fell by 600,000 units in response to rising prices and falling inflation. Stock image used
Search by which? identified huge price increases. For example, a Maltesers Truffles Luxury Easter Egg (286g) increased from an average of £8 to £13, which equates to an increase of 62.5%.
At Asda, a Lindt 5 Gold Bunny milk chocolate (50g) went from £2 on average to £3.11 on average, a rise of 55.5 per cent.
At Tesco, a Ferrero Rocher golden Easter egg (250g) has increased by £10 to £15, a rise of 50 per cent.
The data on the drop in sales was collated by retail data experts Reapp, who suggested the drop was due to both prices and changes in the way supermarkets are allowed to display eggs from Easter.
New laws state that Easter eggs must be placed in specific aisles rather than being placed at checkouts where they are an impulse buy, otherwise parents could be harassed into buying them.
Reapp said: “Easter egg sales have fallen 12 per cent as inflation and legislation dent confectionery performance.
“Sales of chocolate eggs fell by more than 600,000 units sold in the run-up to Easter.”
As a result, the total value of Easter egg sales has so far fallen by £200,000, to £11.3 million.
James Lamplugh, commercial director at Reapp, said: “The obvious decline in Easter egg sales reflects a change in consumer behavior. With inflation rising and Britain becoming more health conscious, it plays an important role in shaping the nation’s baskets.
“As retailers must comply with HFSS (High Fat Salt and Sugar) legislation, Easter eggs are only sold in dedicated seasonal isles, meaning less visibility for the customer. It’s no surprise to see fewer shoppers opting for Easter eggs this year.
He added: “Our data demonstrates that as prices rise, shoppers recalibrate their purchasing habits, favoring essential items over Easter eggs.”