Snack Products; a Portion of Food that Is Smaller Than a Regular Meal and Consumed Between the Meals

 

Snack products are often considered as a small amount of food consumed between meals. Snack food industry comprises companies that make snack foods such as chips, nuts, popcorn, peanut butter and many other varieties of snack products. There is a wide variety of different processed snacks available in the market. These include ready-to-eat popcorn, potato chips, corn chips, tortilla chips, multigrain chips, party mix, pork rinds, meat snacks, snack nuts, pretzels, extruded snacks, granola products, and variety packs.

Snack products also come in various forms such as prepackaged snack foods and even natural, unprocessed foods made from fresh vegetables or fruits. Some snacks can be made by mixing different kinds of raw fruits or vegetables and serve it as a healthy snack to enjoy with the lunch or dinner. Snack products are ready-to-eat foods commonly high in oil and flavored with salty flavorings. They are manufactured by a broad array of processes. First-generation snacks, the simplest category, is produced from fruits, peanuts, popcorn, nuts, and related items.

Cereal-based snacks are major source of healthy foods; made from different types of grains such as sorghum, quinoa, millet, barley, rye, rice, oats, maize, wheat, and others. These ready-to-eat snack products are major source of energy, proteins, and dietary nutrients. Moreover, cereal-based snack products are a popular alternative to traditional foods/snacks for children with allergies. It a convenient and affordable way to get children interested in eating foods they might not normally try.

Moreover, the snack bar is lightweight and easy to carry popular snack food, with nutritious and high-calorie content, and is always seen as a meal replacement by people on the go. Thus, healthy snack products are gaining importance worldwide as compared to branded products. Furthermore, with the increasing replacement of meals with snacks, as more and more people are seeking allergen-free, vegetarian products, the demand for healthy snacks is increasing. For example, in July 2020, Epiphany Snacks USA launched its plant-based snacking range in India.

According to the company, the product range is free of gluten, preservatives, and cholesterol and has no added sugar and also caters to vegans.