Apart from three meals a day, what is the most common snack you eat? Potato chips, dried spicy beans, dried fruit, spiced melon seeds, wafer biscuits, boneless chicken feet... I believe that a variety of leisure snacks have appeared in your mind. There are many kinds of leisure snacks, various tastes, convenient to carry, not only to meet our daily energy supplement can also bring us the mood of pleasure, by the Shanghai Food Expo consumers love.

Diet is closely related to health, so how to choose a healthier snack?

Too much ultra-processed food is bad for your health

Ultra-processed foods (UPF) refer to foods and beverages that have been processed through a series of complex processes [1]. They usually contain high energy and nutrients such as sugar, salt and fat, which have adverse health effects. Nutrients that are beneficial to health, such as dietary fiber, various vitamins and minerals, are usually low. Excessive UPF intake can increase the risk of overweight, obesity, hypertension, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancer, dementia, depression and other diseases.

What kind of snack is healthier?

1. Snacks that aim to supplement inadequate dietary intake

According to the report on Nutrition and Chronic Diseases in China in 2020, the intake of whole grains, aquatic products, milk, legumes and nuts in Chinese residents is lower than the recommended intake of dietary guidelines. Moderate increases in whole grains, nuts, and fish consumption reduced the risk of all-cause death by 13%, 17%, and 12%, respectively.

2. Snacks with higher nutrient density under the same unit of energy

Nutrient density refers to the ratio of a certain nutrient content to its energy, the higher the nutrient density, the higher its nutritional value. The nutrient reference value (NRV%) per 100g (100mL) or 100kcal food in prepackaged food is also an expression of nutrient content. The 2015-2020 Dietary Guidelines for Americans emphasize replacing unhealthy foods with "high nutrient density" foods. There are also population intervention studies showing that diets with high nutrient density can help with weight loss.

3. Snacks low in limiting nutrients

Excessive intake of sugar, sodium, and unhealthy fats, especially trans and saturated fatty acids, is strongly associated with the risk of chronic diseases such as cardiovascular disease, hypertension, diabetes, and obesity, and such eating habits are also major contributors to chronic diseases. Therefore, prioritize snacks that are lower in sodium, saturated fat, and added sugar.

According to the different health demands and concerns of different groups, the white paper "Healthy Trend and Snack Choice of Leisure Snacks" also puts forward that leisure snacks are a good carrier of functionalization of ordinary food, and the addition of beneficial components and moderately nutritionally fortified leisure snacks are a good way for consumers to realize personalized beneficial supplement.

How to choose a healthier snack?

1. Nutrition facts list

Regarding the nutrition content table, China's national food safety standard "General Rules for Nutrition labeling of Pre-packaged Food" (GB 28050-2011) stipulates that energy and protein, fat, carbohydrates, sodium four nutrients, that is, "1+4".

2. Nutrition claims

Nutritional claims are descriptions and claims about the nutritional properties of foods, including content claims and comparison claims. For foods with nutritional claims of "low energy", "low sugar", "low fat" and "low salt", the requirements of Table 1 should be met.

3. Nutritional function claims

Nutrient function claims are claims that a nutrient can maintain the normal growth, development and normal physiological functions of the human body. Nutritional function claims are not easy to write up, only when the energy or nutrient content meets the requirements and conditions of nutrition claims, according to the nutritional characteristics of the food, choose the corresponding one or more functional claim standard terms.

Casual snacks as a complement to meals can make up for the lack of meals. However, after all, most casual snacks contain a certain amount of energy and should not be eaten in large quantities. Excessive consumption of casual snacks may also cause excess energy, which can lead to unhealthy outcomes. Therefore, although snacks are delicious, they should not be eaten more.

If you would like to learn more about the food industry, please visit the SIAL Shanghai website for more information.

Source: China Good Nutrition

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