Product review: Carman’s Goodness range

Carman’s Goodness range includes new products from the Australian manufacturer of foods targeted to the health-conscious consumer. They currently include crackers and breakfast flakes.

Carman’s Goodness range

Carman’s goodness range includes crackers and breakfast cereal flakes.

Goodness Crackers

These oven-baked square-shaped crackers are vegan, gluten-free and GMO-free. They contain seeds but are nut free. The crackers currently come in 3 flavours: Original Sea Salt, Roasted Garlic & Herb, and Caramelised Onion. Each box contains 2 bags with 3 serves each.

Goodness & Grains Flakes

These breakfast flakes are made with whole grains, quinoa and psyllium. They are vegan and GMO-free, but not gluten-free. Thanks to their high dietary fibre, they proudly display 5 health stars on the package. Goodness & Grains Flakes currently come in the following flavours: Cranberry & Vanilla, Sultana & Cinnamon, and Almond & Coconut. Each box contains 8 serves weighing 45 grams each.

Ingredients

Below are the ingredients lists for all crackers and breakfast flakes. You will notice they contain ingredients such as sugar and vegetable oils, but are in general on the healthy side of the cracker and cereal spectrum.

Crackers

• Original Sea Salt: Gluten free flour blend (tapioca, corn, chickpea, potato starch), sunflower oil, seeds 10% (sesame, poppy), organic cane sugar, sea salt, garlic, natural antioxidant (rosemary extract).
• Roasted Garlic & Herb: Gluten free flour blend (tapioca, corn, chickpea, potato starch), sunflower oil, sesame seeds, organic cane sugar, sea salt, garlic, herbs, natural antioxidant (rosemary extract).
• Caramelised Onion: Gluten free flour blend (tapioca, corn, chickpea, potato starch), sunflower oil, seeds 9% (linseeds, sesame), caramelised onions 7.5% (onion, brown sugar, canola oil), organic cane sugar, sea salt, onion, garlic, natural antioxidant (rosemary extract).

Flakes

• Cranberry & Vanilla: Bran flakes (whole grain wheat, wheat bran, brown rice, psyllium husks, brown sugar, quinoa, barley malt extract, salt, mineral [iron], vitamins [B3, B2, E]), whole grain oats, fruit 16% (cranberries 10% [cranberries, sugar, sunflower oil], currants [currants, vegetable oil]), bran straws (wheat bran, wheat flour, salt), sunflower seeds, natural flavour, natural vanilla flavour.
• Sultana & Cinnamon: Bran flakes (whole grain wheat, wheat bran, brown rice, psyllium husks, brown sugar, quinoa, barley malt extract, salt, mineral [iron], vitamins [B3, B2, E]), sultanas 26% (sultanas, vegetable oil), bran straws (wheat bran, wheat flour, salt), whole grain oats, sunflower seeds, buckwheat, cinnamon.
• Almond & Coconut: Bran flakes (whole grain wheat, wheat bran, brown rice, psyllium husks, brown sugar, quinoa, barley malt extract, salt, mineral [iron], vitamins [B3, B2, E]), whole grain oats, bran straws (wheat bran, wheat flour, salt), sunflower seeds, almonds 5%, coconut 4.5%, natural flavours, sunflower oil.

Nutrition information

The tables below show the nutrition information for currently available flavours. Note that the flakes are high in fibre and relatively high in protein, especially when compared with competing products.

Crackers

Nutrient	Original Sea Salt Per serve (25g)	Original Sea Salt Per 100g	Roasted Garlic & Herb Per serve (25g)	Roasted Garlic & Herb Per 100g	Caramelised Onion Per serve (27g)	Caramelised Onion Per 100g
Energy (kJ)	478	1910	470	1180	465	1860
Energy (kcal)	114	456	112	449	111	445
Protein (g)	1.8	7.0	1.6	6.5	1.6	6.3
Fat, total (g)	5.8	23.2	5.8	23.0	5.8	23.2
– Saturated (g)	0.6	2.5	0.6	2.2	0.6	2.2
Carbohydrate, total (g)	13.6	54.5	13.5	54.0	13.5	53.9
– Sugars (g)	1.8	7.0	1.6	6.2	2.4	9.6
Dietary fibre (g)	1.0	3.8	0.9	3.4	1.1	4.4
Sodium (mg)	139.0	556.0	260.0	1040.0	151.0	605.0

Flakes

Nutrient	Cranberry & Vanilla Per serve (45g)	Cranberry & Vanilla Per 100g	Sultana & Cinnamon Per serve (45g)	Sultana & Cinnamon Per 100g	Almond & Coconut Per serve (45g)	Almond & Coconut Per 100g
Energy (kJ)	662	1470	630	1400	716	1590
Energy (kcal)	158	352	150	334	171	379
Protein (g)	4.7	10.5	4.3	9.5	5.6	12.4
Fat, total (g)	3.2	7.2	2.5	5.5	5.9	13.0
– Saturated (g)	0.4	0.9	0.3	0.7	1.8	4.0
Carbohydrate, total (g)	23.5	52.3	24.0	53.4	19.7	43.8
– Sugars (g)	5.9	13.1	7.8	17.3	1.4	3.0
Dietary fibre (g)	7.8	17.3	7.1	15.8	8.5	18.9
Sodium (mg)	51.0	113.0	49.0	109.0	55.0	121.0

Taste test

I got a complimentary box containing the following products:

• Goodness Crackers Caramelised Onion
• Goodness & Grains Cranberry & Vanilla Flakes
• Salted Caramel Nut Butter Protein Bars

The protein bars are not part of the new range so won’t be reviewed in this post.

The crackers were delicious, as we got one of the flavoured options they are perfect on their own and need no dips or toppings in my opinion. I liked that the crackers came in 2 separate bags to avoid overeating; however each bag contains 3 serves so if you are not sharing you might still end up overeating. I wouldn’t recommend these crackers as a regular snack (these other Carman’s crackers are more suitable for frequent consumption) but they are a great alternative to other snacks to have as part of a cheeseboard or on movie night.

The breakfast flakes were very tasty as well. I don’t normally eat cereal for breakfast so I can’t really compare with other products but I did enjoy them. I found the recommended serve size of 45 grams reasonably sized and moderately filling.

Summary and recommendations

These Goodness crackers and flakes are a great addition to the already range of healthier snacks offered by Carman’s Kitchen. They are plant-based and the crackers are, in addition, gluten-free.

More information

For more information about Carman’s products and to learn where to find them visit Carman’s Kitchen website.

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