An Analysis of Nutrition Labeling and Ingredients in 2012 salty snacks for sale in supermarkets carried out by the Organization of Consumers and Users (OCU) reveals that 158 of them, 61%, are little or not healthy.
Between the snacks Less healthy, according to the OCU, are fried foods, crusts, shaped snacks (rings, cones, balls, stars…), little worms and the extruded popcorn. The reason? The worst ratings are due to excess salt (3.8% on average), fats (24%) and colourings, flavorings and additives, some of which, such as E621, are not recommended as they cause intolerance reactions in sensitive people.
It also penalizes these snacks, explains the OCU in a statement, its high caloric intake: 467 calories per 100 grams. In fact, there are packages with more than 600 calories, which represents about 30% of the daily recommendation for an adult.
The main nutrient of snacks It is usually carbohydrates, but they are so processed that they have lost much of their vitamins and fiber.
The only healthy snacks
They are very few snacks that we might consider healthy. Among the least bad would be the nachos and type appetizers healthya heterogeneous group with healthy claims (not always reliable) and less common ingredients, such as legumes, chia seeds or quinoa. They are snacks with a little less salt and are usually baked, which limits the saturated fat content.
In any case, only two of the 2012 snacks analyzed deserve the qualification of “healthy” for the OCU. They are, specifically, the tortilla Old El Paso Nachips -a snack baked goods made 100% with corn– and the Risi’s Mine Baked: some new baked snacks available in two flavors: lentil, rice and corn and whole chickpea, spinach and onion.
Even with a good assessment, the OCU recalls that it is about highly processed productsof little nutritional interest and high in calories, so they should only be consumed occasionally and limiting their intake to a 30-gram serving, which is not easy given the usual use of glutamate (E621) that makes them so appetizing.
Therefore, when consuming an aperitif, it is advisable to prioritize other unprocessed foodssuch as nuts, olives, pickles (gherkins, anchovies, spring onions), anchovies in vinegar, cheese, hummus, guacamole…
Images | JackF
In DAP | 69 healthy snacks