Bite-Sized Nutrition

People snack for various reasons: to curb appetite, to replace an actual meal, or just to satisfy a craving.  Don’t judge me by my guilty pleasure snack: Cheetos Crunchy Cheddar Jalapeno Cheese. The spicy flavor and crunchy texture are what I’m drawn to.

In addition to catering to taste and texture preferences, today’s snacks have evolved to meet health and wellness trends. The global healthy snacks market amounted to $85.6 billion in 2021 and is expected to grow at a rate of 6.6% annually between 2022 and 2030, according to Statista. About 42% of global consumers snack to take care of their body and nutritional needs, according to Mondelēz International, and 74% of consumers say they would like to have snacks tailored specifically to their personal health and nutritional needs (Mondelēz International 2023). When it comes to healthy snacks, low to no sugar and/or sodium and no artificial ingredients are important, particularly in children’s snacks. But do consumers seek out specific ingredients in snacks?

“Ingredients matter” was one of the identified trends in Ardent Mills’ recent Trend to Table report, in which 85% of consumers said ingredients play a role in what foods they choose to eat. They connect more with specific ingredients and brands that speak to their core values and lifestyle. While the nutritional benefits of each ingredient matter, so does safe, responsible sourcing and sustainable preparation and processing. Tied to this is another identified trend, “adding with intent,” according to the Ardent Mills report, which noted that 80% of consumers agreed that “seeking good for you” foods is important to dietary goals and priorities. Healthy ingredients, environmental claims, mood-boosting properties, and convenience all play a role as consumers proactively add foods that will make a difference to their overall wellness.

In the healthy snack market, overarching trends include plant-based, clean label, eco-conscious, and protein-packed snack items across categories. Ingredients like dietary fiber, seeds, nuts, whole grains, and proteins meet these consumer demands while adding to snacks’ nutritional profiles.

Dietary Fiber

The recommended daily consumption of dietary fiber is 14 g for every 1,000 calories consumed. However, a majority of consumers fall short of this intake goal. This leads to consumers missing out on dietary fiber’s many health benefits in areas that are top of mind: weight management, digestive health, cardiovascular health, and blood sugar level.

While dietary fiber is recommended from whole food sources such as fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans, nuts, and seeds, ingredient suppliers offer fiber and prebiotic fibers—including inulin, resistant starch, maltodextrin, and fructooligosaccharides—that can aid in boosting fiber consumption in snacks like chips, crackers, baked snacks, extruded snacks, and bars. One study demonstrated that in healthy adults with habitual low dietary fiber intake, adding 3 g or 7 g chicory root inulin-type fructans (ITF) to snack bars increased bifidobacterium, a beneficial member of the gut microbial community (Reimer et al. 2020). This showed that adding ITF to food products, like snack bars, could help reduce the dietary fiber gap.

Probiotics

No longer associated with just yogurt, probiotics are now found in snacks like trail mix, granola, yogurt-covered fruit snacks, and bars. When choosing which probiotic to use in a snack food, manufacturers need to know that different probiotic strains have been shown to benefit different health concerns: digestive health, immune health, weight management, gut microflora, and even mental health. In addition to benefits, it’s also important to understand probiotic survivability and stability in various processing conditions and during storage and shelf life of the finished snack.

Whole Grains, Nuts, and Seeds

With plant-based eating and clean label still so prevalent in all food categories, ingredients like whole grains, nuts, and seeds (e.g., chia, hemp, and sunflower) are a great fit for healthy snacking. As stand-alone snacks or as ingredients, these offer clean label sources of plant protein, dietary fiber, healthy fats, vitamins, and minerals.

There also is a growing suite of recently published research that shows the potential of lesser known grains and seeds that can be used in healthy snacks. For example, fenugreek seed often is used to add flavor to foods. Traditionally, fenugreek has been taken to support blood sugar levels, cholesterol, and menstrual cramps in women. The seed itself provides protein and dietary fiber. One literature review examined reports on fenugreek and its use in functional foods (Alu’datt et al. 2024). The review found that fenugreek can be combined with other gluten-free flours, such as chickpea, green pea, and oat flour, to create extruded gluten-free snacks. In some of the snacks, the addition of fenugreek reduced the expected glycemic index of the snack.

Sorghum is an ancient grain that not only answers the call for healthy, plant-based, and clean label, but also can address the demand for eco-conscious snacks. Whole grain sorghum is a great source of fiber and protein, as well as antioxidants, magnesium, phosphorus, and vitamin B3. According to Sorghum Checkoff, the grain is among the most efficient crops in conversion of solar energy and use of water, and is known as a high-energy, drought-tolerant, resource-conserving grain. As with fenugreek, extruded snacks are an area of opportunity for sorghum. In a review of potential food applications for sorghum, researchers noted that the extrusion capacity of sorghum is high (Thilakarathna et al. 2022). In addition, some sorghum species with a thick pericarp can be popped up on roasting and consumed directly. Sorghum flour blends can be used to create baked snacks.

Almonds are one of the most popular nuts as a snack food and one of the most popular nuts used as an ingredient in snacks, especially keto-friendly snacks. One ounce (28 g) of almonds provides 4 g fiber and 15 essential nutrients. Two recent studies funded by the Almond Board of California added to a growing body of scientific evidence suggesting that almonds, when eaten as part of a healthy diet, do not cause weight gain, can be included in reduced-calorie weight loss diets, and may improve overall diet quality and lower heart disease risk. One study showed that participants who reduced their daily calories by 30% through either a nut-free or almond-enriched diet lost an average of 15 pounds and improved their lean body mass after three months (Carter et al. 2023). Another study found that almonds, when eaten long term as a snack, can improve overall diet quality without causing weight gain among healthy non-obese, habitual snacking adults in New Zealand (Brown et al. 2023). Participants in the almond group consumed significantly more protein, polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats, fiber, vitamin E, calcium, copper, magnesium, phosphorous, and zinc, and less carbohydrates and sugar than the control group.

Fruits, Vegetables, and Fungi

Whole fruit and vegetable snacks, as well as snacks with fruit and vegetable ingredients, are appealing because of their wholesome, plant-based profiles. Parents see many of these snacks as a way to get some nutrients from fruits and vegetables into their children’s diets. Suppliers offer a cornucopia of fruits and vegetables in various forms to satisfy different snack formulations: powdered, freeze-dried, dehydrated, and individually quick frozen, in granules or whole forms. One example is the introduction by Calbee America of its Harvest Snaps Kids Freeze-Dried Fruit Snacks and Harvest Snaps Crispy Fruit Snacks this year. Whole fruit is the only ingredient in both snacks. For the Crispy Fruit Snacks, selected fruit is freeze dried or vacuum dried to preserve nutrients and sweetness.

Using fruit or vegetable ingredients also can result in a healthier snack product profile. A 2023 study of the use of freeze-dried elderberry powder in an oat- and millet-based snack bar demonstrated that the snack bars provided a complete mix of macronutrients required in a daily diet (Has et al. 2023).

Mushrooms are gaining in popularity, particularly adaptogenic mushrooms such as lion’s mane, chaga, reishi, and cordyceps, because they are thought to help reduce the effects of stress on the body. Snacks like mushroom jerky, mushroom crisps, and mushroom bars are being formulated with these and other adaptogenic fungi. A recent study demonstrated that a mushroom powder (Coprinus comatus) incorporated into a plant-based snack bar was found to control the postprandial glycemic responses of the study participants (Dimopoulou et al. 2023).

There are other benefits to using mushrooms in healthy snack formulation. For example, Confetti Snacks’ Lovely Veggie Confetti Snacks are filled with okra, purple sweet potatoes, radishes, and shiitake mushrooms that are preserved by a proprietary low-heat baking process that also produces a satisfying crunch similar to chips. In addition, the manufacturer helps reduce waste by upcycling imperfect produce that is unsellable due to irregular sizes or shapes.

Proteins

“High protein” was the number one ranked eating pattern identified in the International Food Information Council’s 2023 Food & Health Survey, followed by mindful eating, calorie-counting, clean eating, and intermittent fasting. Snacks haven’t escaped the consumer desire for more protein in their food and drinks. Nutrition bars have been versatile vehicles for added protein, both animal- and plant-based proteins, with whey, soy, and pea protein the most commonly used in snack formulations.

Aloha’s new protein bar flavor, Oatmeal Chocolate Chip, shows the use of less mainstream plant-based sources: brown rice protein and pumpkin seed protein. In the future, look for an increase in collagen peptides in snacks. With the growing interest in beauty foods, collagen peptides are being added to beauty bars for its skin and hair benefits. In addition, while bars are mostly associated with protein-packed snacks, SimplyProtein uses pea protein isolate in its new Restaurant-style Tortilla Chips. One serving of the chips, made with white corn flour and pea protein isolate, provides 12 g protein, showing that protein can be added to a variety of snacks.