Product review: Obela Hommus To Go

You feel peckish in the middle of the day and find out the only option around is a pack of chips from a vending machine. You resolve to pack a healthy homemade dip with some carrot and celery sticks starting “tomorrow”. When you come home that night you realise you have no time or energy to make the dip, prep the veggies and put them in containers to take to work. We all have been there but even the best intentions to eat healthy go out the window when hunger strikes and we’re caught off-guard.

Most of us can picture a healthy breakfast, lunch and dinner, but many people find it difficult to think of a healthy snack. I think part of the issue is that the word “snack” is associated with junk food, but that is a topic for another day. Finding healthy, convenient snacks usually requires a bit of thought, but sometimes the answer is right in front of you. It happened to me while I was perusing the refrigerated section of my local supermarket, where I found a nutritious snack that can come in handy when hunger strikes: Obela Hommus To Go.

Ingredients

The ingredients in the three Obela Hommus To Go varieties are:

• Classic Hommus To Go:
  • Hommus: cooked chickpeas (74%), tahini (ground sesame), canola oil, garlic, salt, food acid (330), preservative (202)
  • Crackers: wholegrain rice (69%), corn flour, inulin (dietary fibre) linseed, sesame seed, vegetable oil, salt, chia seed
• Roasted Capsicum Hommus To Go
  • Hommus: cooked chickpeas (65%), tahini (ground sesame), canola oil, red capsicum (6.5%), garlic, salt, food acid (330), preservative (202)
  • Crackers: wholegrain rice (69%), corn flour, inulin (dietary fibre) linseed, sesame seed, vegetable oil, salt, chia seed
• Zesty Jalapeno Hommus To Go
  • Hommus: cooked chickpeas (69%) [water, chickpeas], tahini (sesame seeds), canola oil, jalapeno (4%), garlic (1%), salt, food acid (citric acid, acetic acid), preservative (202)
  • Crackers: whole grain rice (69%), corn flour, inulin (dietary fibre), linseed, sesame seed, canola oil, salt, chia seed

Nutrition information

Here are the nutrition panels for the three flavours:

Nutrient	Classic Per serve (125g)	Roasted Capsicum Per serve (125g)	Zesty Jalapeno Per serve (125g)
Energy (kJ)	1497	1302	1475
Protein (g)	10.1	9.6	9.4
Fat, Total (g)	21.8	17	20.1
– Saturated (g)	2.5	2.1	2.5
Carbohydrate (g)	27.6	26.9	33.4
– Sugars (g)	1.6	2.6	2.9
Sodium (mg)	581	467	580
Total Dietary Fibre (g)	7.1	5.7	10.3

Taste test

I tried the three available Obela Hommus To Go varieties. At the time, each pack costed $3 in Woolworths but I bought them on special (2 for $3). The pack consists of 2 plastic tubs attached to each other, one contains Sakata wholegrain crackers and the other the hommus, both sealed with foil.

I enjoyed all of them, however I liked the roasted capsicum and zesty jalapeno better than the classic hommus just because they had a different twist. I found there were too many crackers for the amount of dip.

Pros

• These are single serve, so there’s no need to portion control and keep for later.
• The serve is generous, so it can potentially sub for a meal in a pinch.
• Although, in my opinion, there’s nothing like freshly homemade hommus, the flavour is good and the texture is creamy and smooth like advertised in the label.
• Plenty of fibre thanks to the chickpeas in the hommus, plus the brown rice, seeds and inulin in the crackers.
• Very low in sugar.
• A decent amount of protein per serve.
• Gluten-free.

Cons

• The product contains a couple of additives: food acid (330) and preservative (202), which could be an issue for people with intolerances. It also contains sesame seeds and may contain other potential allergens (fish, crustacean, soy, dairy, tree nuts and sulphites).
• The hommus is made with canola oil instead of olive oil, which affects slightly both the taste and the healthiness of the product.
• Even though these are single serve packs, what happens if you don’t finish the whole thing in one go? The peel-off foil is not easy to put back into place. Some sort of resealable container would be great.
• Even though the crackers in the pack are healthier than other crackers, it would be even better to include vegetable sticks instead.

Bottom line

This is not kale, but is a healthier alternative to a pack of chips or a chocolate bar. I would buy this product again if I felt like snacking on hommus and I didn’t have time to make my own. Having said that, I would be more inclined to buy it if they substituted the crackers with veggie sticks and/or if they used olive oil in the product. Finally, Obela makes a wide variety of dips, some of which are not currently available in “to go” packs and that I’d be potentially interested in buying as single serves.

More info

Head to Obela’s website to learn more about their products.

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