The world of snacking presents a nutritional minefield. With supermarket shelves stacked with colorful, convenient options, finding the healthiest snacks can feel nearly impossible. Most of us grab a quick bite between meals without thinking about how it affects our health over time. A quarter of our daily calories come from snacks and drinks we have outside regular meals. This big part of our diet needs more attention. This is especially true given how many ultra-processed foods show up in our snack choices. Nutrition scientists have carefully looked at dozens of popular ultra-processed snacks. They wanted to tell the truly harmful ones from those that are okay to eat sometimes. Surprisingly, not all ultra-processed foods are equally bad. Some choices are much better than others.
What Are We Eating?
Before getting into the healthiest options, let’s understand what “ultra-processed” means. Food producers aim for convenience, taste, and long shelf life with these products. They fractionate whole foods into substances like sugars, oils, proteins, and starches. These ingredients undergo processing like hydrogenation or hydrolysis before being combined using techniques such as extrusion or molding. Many of these factors affect the healthiness of the snacks we consider healthiest.
Medical research raises concerns about these convenient products. “Snacking on junk foods can undo the metabolic benefits of your healthy meals,” one expert cautions. Your between-meal choices can either support or undermine your overall metabolic health. Checking ingredient labels reveals these industrial foods. Health experts point out they contain “food substances never or rarely used in kitchens” and “classes of additives designed to make the final product palatable or more appealing” such as artificial flavors, colors, or emulsifiers.
The Healthiest Options Among Ultra-Processed Snacks
Popcorn tops the list as what Amati calls the “unsung hero” of the snack world. It’s a whole grain that’s been popped, providing fiber that most adults don’t get enough of. Healthier popcorn options include Good Health Half Naked Popcorn, which is lightly salted and high in fiber, and SkinnyPop Original Popcorn with just three simple ingredients. When choosing popcorn, watch for these red flags:
- High sodium (some brands contain 12% or more of the daily recommended intake)
- Added sugars or artificial sweeteners
Chip Alternatives Worth Considering
While most chips fall firmly in the ultra-processed category, some brands offer better options. The healthiest snack choices contain modest amounts of fiber and simple ingredients without excess additives. Better options include Thrive Market Grain-Free Sea Salt Tortilla Chips, which contain healthy ingredients like chia seeds and avocado oil, and Siete Foods Dip Chip Grain Free Tortilla Chips with added fiber from psyllium husk. Things to watch for include:
- Excessive sodium and saturated fat
- Artificial colors like red 40 or yellow 5
- Thickeners and sweeteners
Nuts: Nature’s Nutritional Gems
Nuts offer protein, fiber, healthy fats, vitamins, and minerals. This makes them great snacks. However, many store brands come loaded with salt, sugar, and additives. For high-quality nut selections, seek out varieties that are unsalted or only lightly salted without added sweeteners or emulsifiers. Planters Deluxe Salted Mixed Nuts (containing cashews, pecans, almonds, pistachios, and Brazil nuts) and Go Raw Sea Salt and Vinegar Snacking Seeds stand out as smarter purchases in this category for the healthiest snacks.
Protein Bars: Convenience in a Wrapper
Sometimes you need the ease of a protein or snack bar. Most are ultra-processed. Yet, some contain good ingredients that provide real nutrition. Smart selections include RXBAR Minis, which contain just a handful of basic ingredients like dates, egg whites, nuts, and berries, and NuGo Slim Chocolate Mint protein bars, which offer substantial protein (17g) with relatively low sugar. Be wary of:
- Large amounts of added sugars
- Sugar alcohols like erythritol and xylitol, which research has linked to increased cardiovascular risk
Cookies: For Sweet Cravings
Most store-bought cookies are highly processed with saturated fat, sugar, and chemical additives. But some brands offer marginally better options when you need a sweet treat. Healthier cookie choices include Urban Remedy Superfood Cookies Chocolate Chip (Bite-Sized), with just 4g of added sugar and 3g of fiber per serving, and Maxine’s Heavenly Chocolate Chocolate Chunk Cookies, which are relatively low in sugar and saturated fat.
Weighing Health Consequences
A major study tracking over 500,000 U.S. adults found sobering results. People who ate more ultra-processed foods “were about 10% more likely to die over a median follow-up of 23 years compared with those who consumed less processed food.” “Our study results support a larger body of literature… which indicate that ultra-processed food intake adversely impacts health and longevity,” explained one researcher.
Which foods posed the greatest risk? Researchers observed that “highly processed meat and soft drinks were a couple of the subgroups of ultra-processed food most strongly associated with mortality risk.” Another extensive analysis confirmed these findings. It identified “meat/poultry/seafood based ready-to-eat products” and “sugar sweetened and artificially sweetened beverages” as showing particularly strong associations with mortality.
Making Informed Decisions
With ultra-processed foods now making up 57% of what adults eat daily, it’s hard to avoid them fully. Fortunately, being picky about which snacks you choose can make a big difference. Remember that while some ultra-processed snacks are better than others, the best plan is to eat fewer ultra-processed foods overall. When possible, choose fresh, less processed options instead. When navigating the snack aisle, opt for the healthiest snacks available:
- Read food labels carefully
- Pick products with fewer ingredients
- Avoid fake additives, colors, and flavors
- Choose options lower in salt, sugar, and bad fats
- Look for snacks with some fiber
The Bottom Line on Ultra-Processed Snacks
The healthiest snacks remain whole, minimally processed foods like fresh fruits, vegetables, and nuts. Nutrition experts emphasize this consistently. But sometimes we need quick, packaged options. In these cases, choosing wisely among ultra-processed foods can help reduce harm. By picking popcorn with basic ingredients, nuts without too much salt or sugar, and protein bars with items you can recognize, you can make better choices even among ultra-processed snacks. With greater awareness, you can select the healthiest snacks that support rather than undermine your health goals.