Nutella vs JimJams vs Sweet Freedom: Which Is Actually Healthiest?
Last updated: April 2026
If you are here, you have probably stood in front of the chocolate spread shelf, picked up a jar of Nutella, flipped it over, and thought there must be a better Nutella alternative somewhere in this aisle. There is. Two of them, in fact, are right next to it. JimJams and Sweet Freedom have been quietly nibbling at Nutella's market share for years, and in 2026 both are widely stocked in UK supermarkets. But which Nutella alternative is actually healthier for your kids — and does either of them taste good enough that a Nutella-raised child will eat it without a protest?
We have compared all three on the things that actually matter — sugar, ingredients, palm oil, taste, and what a parent would pay for a jar — so you do not have to read three labels in front of a bored toddler. Short version at the top, detail below, and a plain answer at the end.
[IMAGE: Three jars side-by-side on a wooden kitchen counter — Nutella, JimJams No Added Sugar Hazelnut, and Sweet Freedom Choc Pot — with a slice of toast and a butter knife in front. Natural morning light.]
Why parents are hunting for a Nutella alternative in 2026
Nutella is the default chocolate spread in most UK kitchens and has been for a generation. It is also more than half sugar by weight, the second ingredient is palm oil, and the hazelnut content is just 13%. For a jar marketed on toast for children, that is a lot of sugar for not much nut. The NHS free-sugar limit is 19g a day for a four- to six-year-old. Two level teaspoons of Nutella spread on toast will put a primary-age child almost at that limit before they have left the kitchen.
Add to that the January 2026 HFSS advertising restrictions that now limit how the big sugar-heavy brands can promote themselves, and a growing parent conversation about ultra-processed food, and it is no surprise that the "what else is there?" question is mainstream. Two spreads come up every time: JimJams and Sweet Freedom. A third — Pip & Nut — is also worth a mention, but that one sits a notch higher on price and is covered in our ranked guide to the best chocolate spreads for kids in the UK.
Meet the three spreads
Nutella
The market leader and the spread every other jar is being compared to. Sold in a distinctive glass jar with a red lid, made by Ferrero, and available everywhere. The recipe has barely changed in 60 years: sugar, palm oil, hazelnuts (13%), skimmed milk powder, fat-reduced cocoa (7.4%), lecithin, and vanillin. Sugar content sits at around 56.3g per 100g. A typical 400g jar is about £3.50 in most UK supermarkets.
JimJams
A UK-based brand that has built its entire identity around "less sugar". The flagship product is its 83% Less Sugar Hazelnut Spread, which swaps most of the sugar for maltitol (a sugar alcohol) and lands at about 8.7g of sugar per 100g. JimJams also sells a no-added-sugar milk chocolate variant that is nut-free, and a 1kg "School Compliant" tub aimed at nurseries and primary schools. Stocked in Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda, Morrisons and Ocado, typically around £3.50 for a 350g jar.
Sweet Freedom Choc Pot
Another British brand, and the odd one out in this line-up. Sweet Freedom does not use cane sugar or artificial sweeteners. It uses a proprietary fruit-extract blend — mainly carob and apple — to do the sweetening work. A teaspoon lands at about 14 calories, fat is very low, and there is no palm oil. Its "Hazelnot" variant, launched in 2025, is nut-free and built specifically for school lunchboxes. Typical price is around £3.00 for a 250g jar. Stocked in most major supermarkets, though availability of Hazelnot varies.
Head-to-head: which Nutella alternative wins on what?
Sugar
This is the reason most parents start looking elsewhere, and the three spreads split cleanly. Nutella is 56g of sugar per 100g. JimJams is around 8.7g. Sweet Freedom Choc Pot looks high on paper at around 37g per 100g, but those are fruit sugars from the apple and carob extract rather than added sugar.
On raw sugar grams, JimJams is the clear winner. On "no added sugar" claims, both JimJams and Sweet Freedom qualify under UK labelling rules. Our full explainer on what "no added sugar" actually means unpacks the five most common label tricks.
Ingredients and processing
Short ingredient lists are almost always a better bet. Sweet Freedom wins here. The Choc Pot recipe is built on fruit extract, cocoa, sunflower oil, and a small handful of other pantry-recognisable ingredients. No emulsifiers, no palm oil, no sweeteners ending in -itol.
Nutella is longer than people assume — seven ingredients including an emulsifier (lecithin) and a flavouring (vanillin). JimJams is the longest of the three, with sustainable palm oil, maltitol, and an emulsifier in the mix. All three spreads are processed foods, but only one is what most parents would call "clean label". We break down every ingredient in what's really in your kids' chocolate spread.
Hazelnut content
Nutella's hazelnut content is 13%; the rest is sugar, palm oil and milk powder doing the heavy lifting. JimJams sits at around 13% hazelnut too in its standard variant. Sweet Freedom Choc Pot is not a hazelnut spread at all — the original is cocoa, carob and apple, and the Hazelnot variant is also not hazelnut-based. JimJams matches Nutella closer on the nut-forward flavour, though neither is a genuinely nut-heavy spread.
Palm oil
Nutella uses palm oil. JimJams uses sustainable (RSPO-certified) palm oil. Sweet Freedom does not use palm oil at all. Sustainable palm oil is a reasonable compromise, but the best chocolate spreads do not need it. Our palm oil in chocolate spread explainer goes into why this matters and what RSPO certification actually tells you.
Taste and texture
Nutella is the standard — silky, extremely sweet, engineered to be moreish. Kids are pre-trained on the flavour.
JimJams tastes closer to Nutella than most lower-sugar rivals because maltitol mimics the mouthfeel of sugar reasonably well. Kids who have switched usually describe the difference as "a little less sweet" rather than "a different spread."
Sweet Freedom Choc Pot is the boldest swerve — less chocolate-and-sugar, more chocolate-ganache-with-fruit. Some kids love it, some send it back. Worth buying a small pot first.
Price and availability
All three sit in the big four supermarkets. Per gram, Nutella is typically £0.88 per 100g on offer, JimJams around £1.00, and Sweet Freedom around £1.20. You are paying more for a lower-sugar option, though the gap shrinks once you factor in how quickly each jar gets through.
School-safe and nut-free
If your child's school has a nut ban, the answer narrows fast. Standard Nutella is out. JimJams hazelnut is out. JimJams milk chocolate (no hazelnut) is in, and so is Sweet Freedom Hazelnot. Hazelnot is the only genuinely novel recipe of the two — JimJams milk chocolate is essentially the standard hazelnut recipe with the hazelnuts removed. Our complete guide to nut-free spreads in the UK covers every nut-free chocolate spread on UK shelves.
Side-by-side comparison
| Criterion | Nutella | JimJams (Hazelnut) | Sweet Freedom Choc Pot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sugar per 100g | ~56g | ~8.7g | ~37g (fruit sugars only) |
| Main sweetener | Cane sugar | Maltitol | Carob and apple extract |
| Palm oil | Yes | Yes (RSPO sustainable) | No |
| Hazelnut content | 13% | ~13% | N/A (not a hazelnut spread) |
| Vegan | No | No | Yes |
| Nut-free option | No | Yes (milk chocolate variant) | Yes (Hazelnot variant) |
| Typical price | £3.50 / 400g | £3.50 / 350g | £3.00 / 250g |
So which Nutella alternative is actually healthiest?
It depends what "healthiest" means to you, and that is not a cop-out — it is the honest answer.
If the number you care about most is total sugar, JimJams wins by a mile. A jar of JimJams delivers about an eighth of the sugar of a jar of Nutella. That is an enormous real-world difference over a year of packed lunches.
If the thing you care about is short, recognisable ingredients and no palm oil, Sweet Freedom Choc Pot wins. It is the only one of the three with no palm oil, no emulsifier, and no sugar alcohol — and it is the only vegan option.
If you are buying for a school with a nut ban, Sweet Freedom Hazelnot is the best nut-free option of the three. JimJams Milk Chocolate is a reasonable alternative but has the same long ingredient list as the hazelnut version.
The honest summary: both JimJams and Sweet Freedom are healthier Nutella alternatives than Nutella, in different ways. JimJams wins on raw sugar reduction. Sweet Freedom wins on ingredient quality and palm-oil-free positioning. Neither is a daily health food — they are better versions of a treat category — but either one, swapped in for Nutella five days a week, is a meaningful upgrade.
For a broader view of how chocolate spread fits into kids' diets at all, our is chocolate spread healthy guide goes further on portion sizes, frequency and what the NHS actually says.
A fourth option worth knowing about
The three spreads above dominate the aisle, but there is a quieter category gaining ground — seed-based spreads. A sunflower seed chocolate spread gives you the nut-free benefit without the maltitol or the fruit-sweetener profile. SUNFLY is the main packaged brand in UK supermarkets, and homemade versions are easier than most parents expect. Our homemade chocolate spread recipes guide has step-by-steps.
Frequently asked questions
Is JimJams actually healthier than Nutella?
On sugar, yes, significantly — roughly 8.7g per 100g compared with Nutella's 56g. On overall ingredient quality, it is closer. JimJams still contains palm oil and uses maltitol, a sugar alcohol that can cause digestive upset in larger amounts. It is a meaningful improvement on Nutella but not a clean-label product.
Is Sweet Freedom Choc Pot sugar-free?
No. Sweet Freedom Choc Pot is "no added sugar" under UK labelling rules, meaning no cane sugar or glucose syrup has been added, but it still contains fruit sugars from its carob and apple extract. Total sugars sit at around 37g per 100g. The calorie count per teaspoon is very low because fat content is also low.
Which chocolate spread is best for kids with a nut allergy?
The two widely available nut-free chocolate spreads in UK supermarkets are Sweet Freedom Choc Pot Hazelnot and JimJams No Added Sugar Milk Chocolate (note: not the hazelnut variant). A sunflower seed chocolate spread is another school-safe option — SUNFLY is stocked in Tesco and Ocado, or you can make your own.
Do any of these spreads contain palm oil?
Nutella contains palm oil. JimJams contains sustainable (RSPO-certified) palm oil. Sweet Freedom Choc Pot does not contain palm oil.
Is maltitol safe for kids?
Maltitol is approved for use in food in the UK and EU. In small amounts it is well tolerated, but in larger amounts it can cause bloating, wind and loose stools in some people — children included. Most parents use a lower-sugar spread like JimJams as a daily option in small portions rather than spreading it thick.
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