Hide & Seek Chocolate Chip Cookies
Parle Hide & Seek Chocolate Chip Cookies, launched in 1996 as India's first choco chip cookies, contain 23% chocolate chips made with palm oil and refined sugar, classifying as **NOVA Group 4 ultra-processed** due to additives like emulsifiers and artificial flavors. A typical serving delivers over 20% of ICMR's 25g daily free sugar limit and uses palm oil as the primary fat source, raising concerns for saturated fat intake.
Why this verdict
Red flags present. Best treated as an avoid-for-regular-use product unless the underlying evidence changes.
The issue is frequency: the red flags make this a poor default, even if rare use carries lower practical concern.
This card is the decision shortcut. The detailed evidence and citations live in the six-axis cards below.
Threshold: RED (≥10g added sugar/100g solid or sugar in top-3 ingredients). The ingredient list shows Sugar as the 3rd ingredient and the chocolate (23%) itself contains sugar/dextrose, indicating substantial added/free sugars consistent with the axis note (~23.
5g sugars/100g). Evidence is from the ingredients listing rather than a lab-verified nutrition panel.
Threshold: RED requires NOVA Group 4 AND failing any other axis. Ingredients include emulsifier (lecithin E322) and added artificial flavour (vanilla) along with refined flour/sugar/palm oil—typical of NOVA Group 4 formulations—and the product also fails Sugar load (RED).
Threshold: YELLOW (refined single-source oil used in a product positioned as premium/natural/healthy) or SFA 3–5g/100g; there is insufficient SFA/trans data here for numeric thresholds. The ingredient list shows edible vegetable oil (palm oil) as a key fat source; no evidence of partially-hydrogenated oils or trans-fat amounts is provided, so RED cannot be asserted from the given sources.
Threshold: YELLOW is 300–625mg sodium/100g (solid), but the research provides only an estimate (~350mg/100g) and states exact value unavailable.
Threshold: YELLOW for soft premium framing unsupported by composition; insufficient evidence for a contradictory health claim or an active ruling (RED). The product marketing claim "world's best Real Choco Chips" aligns with the stated 23% chocolate in the ingredient list, but the presence of artificial flavouring substances supports a cautionary YELLOW rather than GREEN.
Threshold: GREEN (clean public record) given the research states no FSSAI notices, recalls, or ASCI violations identified for this product, and provides no contrary regulatory events in the timeline or sources.
Per 100 g
| Energy | ~500 kcal ⚑ Estimated from similar Parle biscuits and YouTube review (130 kcal/25g serving scales to 520 kcal/100g)[6][7] |
| Sugars | ~23.5g ⚑ Inferred from ingredients (2nd: sugar, 23% chocolate with sugar/dextrose); typical for category |
| Total Fat | ~25g ⚑ Primarily palm oil + chocolate fats; saturated est. 12-15g |
| Sodium | ~350mg ⚑ Typical for sweetened biscuits; exact unavailable |
As declared on pack
Wheat Flour, Chocolate (23%) [Sugar, Cocoa Solids, Cocoa Butter, Dextrose, Emulsifier (Lecithin Of Soya Origin) And Added Flavour (Artificial Flavouring Substances-Vanilla)], Sugar, Edible Vegetable Oil (Palm Oil).
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- January 1996Launch of Hide & Seek as India's first choco chip cookies [Source ↗]Parle Products · [1]
Sources of truth
- [1]Hide & Seek (Parle Platina Range)Parle Products
"First-of-its-kind Choco Chip Cookies in India, Hide & Seek was launched in 1996 – best known today for its rich chocolaty experience."