10 hard-to-find foods that are actually good for you

At GoodnessMe, we’re on a mission to find healthy swaps for our favourite foods! From chips and chilli oils to protein bars and instant meals, it’s not always easy to source pantry staples with clean ingredients lists, but our nutritionists are ninjas when it comes to hunting those down. Let’s find out more!

Why are better-for-you products so hard to find?

If you’re struggling to find healthy products, it’s not your fault! Here’s what’s going on:

Ingredient lists are long and hard to navigate. Have you ever picked up a new product, turned it over, and not recognised a single ingredient on the label? The nutrition label might give you the basics, like how much sugar an item contains, but ingredient lists are often riddled with jargon, numbers and other things that don’t sound like food. Our golden rule? If you can’t pronounce it, don’t buy it. Learn more with our Glossary of Ingredients here!

Health Star Ratings can be misleading. Australia’s Health Star Rating system sounds great in theory: if a product has 3 or 4 stars, it should be good for you, right? Unfortunately, food manufacturers can game the system by promoting their products have low sugar or high protein content, when they’ve actually been ultra-processed and contain little to no wholefood ingredients. For example, sweeteners, emulsifiers, artificial colours and flavours can extend shelf life and make foods taste better, and the star rating system doesn’t take these factors into account.

Marketing claims are just that: marketing. Food manufacturers can be so sneaky! These are some of the claims they use to disguise processed foods:

“Low fat, fat-free, diet.” Chances are, these products are packed with sugar, artificial sweeteners and synthetic thickeners to make up for fat’s flavour and texture.
“Low sugar.” For our nutritionists, this means the product should have no more than 10g sugar/100g, but you also want to check for artificial sweeteners.
“Gluten-free.” This isn’t misleading on its own BUT it also doesn’t mean a product is good for you. A lot of GF products are made with highly processed, refined low-fibre flours like potato or tapioca starch.

There’s too much choice! With hundreds of options to choose from, it’s easy for the better-for-you products to be overlooked. That’s where GoodnessMe comes in: everything on the shop is nutritionist-approved and meets our sky high wholefood standards (known as the Real Food Code).

Common additives to watch out for – and why

When you’re shopping for pantry staples at the supermarket, you’ll probably come across products that contain a bunch of oils or additives. These can look innocent on ingredient lists, but they aren’t great for our health.

These ingredients are red flags:

Vegetable oil – like canola oil or rapeseed oil. We love healthy fats at GoodnessMe, but vegetable oil doesn’t come under that umbrella. These oils are cheap, mass-produced and often found in highly processed foods with a long shelf life. They can cause inflammation in the body, and can oxidise over time. No, thanks!
Vegetable fat, like margarine. Same deal here – this type of fat is ‘hydrogenated’ or hardened vegetable oil, and full of trans fats.
Glucose syrup. Refined sugar has a million names, and glucose syrup is one of them that sounds unassuming. But it’s made up of fructose, which is addictive and puts stress on the liver to break it down.
Fruit juice/fruit juice concentrate. This sounds like a fresh ingredient, but it’s anything but. When fruit is heated, it loses its fibre, vitamin C and other nutritional qualities, leaving a fructose bomb that spikes our blood sugar levels.

Pantry staples we’re loving in 2025

Now onto the best part – here are our favourite healthy, hard-to-find products on the shop!

Bippi Italian Style Chilli Oil. This chilli oil is Nonna-inspired, literally! Packed with Australian peppers and extra virgin olive oil, it’s bursting with fresh flavour and amazing in pasta or drizzled on sandwiches or pizza. Like it spicy? Bippi has Hot and Extra Hot varieties as well - Explore now.

Dona Cholita Avocado Oil White Corn Chips. Move over, greasy, ultra-processed corn chips! These babies are made with certified organic maize flour, cooked in avocado oil and dusted with Himalayan sea salt – making them much better for you and just as crispy! See more healthy chips.

Boulder Canyon Avocado Oil Classic Sea Salt. Can’t go past a thick, crunchy kettle cut chip? Boulder’s rippled ones are famous for a reason. They’re GF, kosher and cooked in pure avo oil in small batches to give them a delish buttery texture. The Sea Salt & Cracked Pepper chips are just as good if you like a little kick!

Madame Tiger Tiger Nut Milk. Plant-based milks are nothing new, but many of them have seed oils for that creamy texture. This tiger nut milk stands out from the pack – it’s free from nasties, as well as dairy, soy and gluten for our allergen friends. It also contains fava bean protein and vitamins B5, B2, D and B12 for extra health benefits with every sip!

Bippi Italian Style Sriracha. Commercial hot sauces are notorious for having added sugars and artificial preservatives, but not this one! An Italian spin on a classic Thai condiment, Bippi’s version uses fresh Aussie chilli, white vinegar, garlic and extra virgin olive oil to get the tangy taste we know and love.

Blue Dino Hand-Baked Vegan Protein Bar Peanut Butter & Jelly. Blue Dino is a go-to for paleo-friendly, nutrient-dense snack bars, and we’re loving their new vegan protein bar. The ingredients are clean and easy to digest, and the PB, organic cacao butter and freeze-dried raspberries really make it taste like a PB&J sandwich!

Funday Sweets. These aren’t the lollies you grew up with! They’re free from sugar and sugar alcohols so they’re gentle on the tummy, and all of Funday’s gummies are vegan, too. Try the Peaches & Cream or Raspberry Frogs – both customer faves!

Mr Lees Noodles. We’re always on the lookout for better-for-you, instant meals, and Mr Lees ticks all our boxes. These noodles are ready in minutes, and free from MSGs, saturated fats and added sugars that are common in commercial brands. Instead, they’re packed with freeze-dried meat and veggies for freshness, and you can choose from chicken, steak and vegetarian options.

Plantasy Foods Mac n Cheez Original. Nothing screams comfort food more than a good ol’ mac and cheese, and this plant-based version is iconic for a reason! With organic coconut milk, rice pasta and spices, this ready made meal hits the spot and is easily digestible.

Australian Organic Food Co soups. With the temps cooling down, it’s time to stock your pantry with hearty soups. Enter: Australian Organic Food Co. This brand partners with Aussie organic farmers to grow its ingredients, so the soups are truly farm to table! They’re also free from preservatives, added sugar and artificial flavours. We love the Chicken, Spelt and Vegetable Soup & 8 Vegetable Minestrone Soup.

Ceres Organics Basil Pesto. Finding a shelf-stable pesto that isn’t loaded with rubbish can be hard, but look no further! Ceres’ version is 100% organic, vegan, and made in Italy with Genovese basil. It has the delish herby taste of traditional pesto, without the parmesan.

Mekhala curry pastes. When you’re in the mood to whip up a warming Asian curry, Mekhala has you covered with their concentrated pastes. From the Organic Butter Masala to Thai Red Curry paste, this homegrown brand has something for every palate, with wholesome ingredients sourced from small organic farms.

Don’t sweat the small stuff

Perfection is never the goal! We’re all out here doing the best, and that means eating wholefoods whenever possible. The easiest way to do that is to avoid highly processed foods, and choosing foods with ingredients you can recognise. To take the guesswork out of shopping for better-for-you pantry staples, check out the GoodnessMe shop!