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Snack nutrition: the fall of full-fat and fried snacks.

Article Excerpt
Snack foods used to be a category dominated almost entirely by unhealthy options, with foods fried, frosted and fudge-coated into oblivion. Now, it's almost harder to find a full-fat potato chip than a healthier formulation if you were to ransack the neighborhood grocery store chip aisle. There are even alternatives to alternative snacks. Don't want a fried potato chip? Try a baked one. If a baked chip has too many calories, try a pretzel crisp instead. With an ever increasing array of sweet and savory seasonings in snack maker pipelines, palates should never be bored, even with the healthiest of snacks.

Chip off the old block

Without a doubt, chips of all kinds are seeing the most growth and innovation in the snack industry. Consumers can choose from tortilla chips, potato chips, bagel chips, and new baked versions, not to mention all of the new flavorings revamping the chip aisle. Now pita chips, sweet potato chips, pretzel chips (or crisps), soy chips, rice chips, vegetable chips and fruit chips are jumping into the game, as are premium and gourmet brands and varieties of each.

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This year Grab Em Snacks, Basking Ridge, N.J., introduced Grab Em Snacks Plantain Chips. Targeted to adult snackers due to their spiciness, the plantain chips are available in six different flavors: Sea Salt, Red Chili, Black Pepper Spice, Chili Garlic, Cajun Seasoning and Jalapeno. The chips are pan fried and contain about 8g of fat and 1g of saturated fat per serving, and at $6.75 to $8.50 depending on the flavor, per one-pound bag, may be a bit pricy for some.

For younger snackers, General Mills introduced Fruit Ripples this spring, available in varieties Strawberry Apple and Cinnamon Apple. The chips are packaged in portion controlled pouches and provide a full serving of fruit.

But General Mills isn't the only snack processor looking to sneak...

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