JimJams hazelnut chocolate spread review
While I try to have healthy breakfasts during the week, I always like to have something more indulgent at the weekends. When I was given the chance to try JimJams hazelnut chocolate spread, which won a Great Taste Award in 2015, of course I said yes. Here’s my taste test and review.
The JimJams spread comes in a 350g jar, and when you open it there’s a strong aroma of chocolate and hazelnuts. It spreads easily, making it perfect for adding to hot toast, muffins and pancakes, and has a very smooth consistency. Once opened, it will store in a cupboard for three months.
It’s obviously been created as an alternative to Nutella and similar products, and it’s a bit less sickly sweet which I have to say I prefer. This allows the flavours of the hazelnuts and the cocoa to come through more. I’m sure kids will still love it, but it has some grown up appeal too.
One of the advertising claims is that it has 83% less sugar than similar spreads. That’s because instead of ordinary sugar, the main ingredient is maltitol, an artificial sweetener. Maltitol is thought to cause less tooth decay and contains fewer calories but it is partly made from glucose. I found that it didn’t have the unpleasant aftertaste that you get with many sweeteners, which is good. Excessive consumption can have a laxative effect, but my two slices of toast didn’t give me any tummy trouble at all (probably wouldn’t eat it out of the jar with a spoon though…)
The JimJams hazelnut chocolate spread has a little more total fat than its main rival (36.6g per 100g versus 31.6g), but it contains rapeseed oil as well as the usual palm oil so the total saturated fat is lower (7.6g per 100g versus 11g). The impression I get is that this allows the manufacturers to use less total maltitol, thus further reducing the total sugar content. These main changes in ingredients add up to give the JimJams a total of 494 kilocalories per 100g, and rival brands have about 546 kcal.
If you’re trying to eat less sugar or avoid tooth decay, this product would be a start if you already eat chocolate hazelnut spread regularly, although I wouldn’t personally refer to it as a ‘diet’ offering. However, for me, I’m more focused on whether a particular product tastes nice – which it definitely does! I also think it would make a great cake filling or topping.
JimJams hazelnut chocolate spread is available from Tesco and Ocado with an RRP of £2.59.
