Nutrition Facts: Sprouted and Raw Organic Sunflower Seeds

November 4, 2026

Our sprouted sunflower seeds are activated with water, germinated into shoots, then dehydrated below 40°C. They have a nice crunch and a mild, nutty taste. This page sets out what is in them and, just as usefully, what each number on a label actually means.

Nutrition per 100g

Energy: 2754kJ / 667kcal
Fat: 61.39g (saturates 6.75g, monounsaturates 21.4g, polyunsaturates 28.6g)
Carbohydrate: 5.66g (sugars 2.58g)
Fibre: 5.80g
Protein: 20g
Salt: 0g

What each figure means

Energy. UK labels must give energy in both kilojoules (kJ) and kilocalories (kcal). The figure is worked out from the nutrients using fixed values per gram: 37kJ for fat, 17kJ for carbohydrate and for protein, and 8kJ for fibre. Do that sum for these seeds and fat supplies about 2,270kJ of the 2,754kJ, roughly four-fifths. That is not surprising: the NHS notes that a gram of fat provides 9kcal, against 4kcal for carbohydrate or protein.

Fat. A seed is a packed lunch for a baby plant, and much of that packed lunch is oil. At 61.39g per 100g the seeds sit well above the NHS yardstick for "high" fat (more than 17.5g per 100g), and the 6.75g of saturates is above its "high" mark for saturates (more than 5g). The NHS describes saturated fats as coming mostly from animal sources, plus some plant foods such as palm and coconut. The remainder here is unsaturated: 21.4g monounsaturated and 28.6g polyunsaturated. The NHS lists sunflower oil among the sources of omega-6 polyunsaturated fats.

Carbohydrate and sugars. Only 5.66g per 100g is carbohydrate, of which 2.58g is sugars. The only ingredient is the seed, so nothing is added. The NHS treats 5g of sugars or less per 100g as "low". Fibre is listed separately, which is why the energy sum above counts it at its own, lower rate.

Fibre. Government guidelines say adults should eat 30g a day, and the NHS says most adults average about 20g. It names wholegrains, pulses, vegetables, fruit and unsalted seeds among the sources.

Protein. At 20g per 100g, protein is a large share of a small seed.

Salt. Zero, because none is added. The NHS treats 0.3g or less per 100g as "low".

Nutrition and health claims

Protein provides just over 12% of the energy, so the seeds are a source of protein. With 5.8g of fibre per 100g they are a source of fibre (3g or more). Authorised wording (Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006 and Regulation (EU) No 432/2012, as retained in Great Britain): "Protein contributes to a growth in muscle mass" and "Protein contributes to the maintenance of muscle mass."

The thresholds are strict, which is worth seeing in numbers. A "source of protein" claim needs at least 12% of the energy to come from protein. Here, 20g x 17kJ is 340kJ, which is 12.3% of 2,754kJ, so the seeds clear it narrowly. "High protein" needs 20%, which they do not reach. Likewise "source of fibre" needs 3g per 100g and "high fibre" needs 6g, so at 5.8g the seeds fall just short of that second tier.

What sprouting involves

Germination is the restart of growth in a seed's embryo. It begins when the seed takes up water, which reactivates enzymes stored inside. Those enzymes break the seed's stored food (carbohydrate, protein or fat) into simpler compounds that move to the embryo, and the first root, the radicle, emerges before anything else. We do this with water, let the seed start into a shoot, and then dehydrate it below 40°C.

What you are actually eating

The sunflower belongs to the aster family, and what looks like one giant flower is a head of many small florets: yellow, petal-like ray florets round the edge and disc florets in the middle. Cultivated heads are often 30cm across or more. Botanically, a sunflower "seed" is a single-seeded fruit called an achene. Varieties grown for eating have larger black-and-white achenes whose seed separates easily from the shell, and that loose kernel is what ends up in the pouch. Varieties grown mainly for oil have small black achenes.