7 Natural Snacks and Sweet Treats to Look for This Year

Quick Bites

When it comes to packaged snacks there are several things I look for — very few ingredients, little sugar, limited sodium, and from time to time I get sucked in by a cool new superfood or production method. These are some of the things that that met all my criteria.

1. Vermont Smoke and Cure RealSticks. I eat a lot of jerky and dried meats as snacks because, for me, it’s a great, portable high-protein option. Although, it’s tricky because I often don’t know the source of the meat (something that is important to me), and it can be high in sugar and sodium. Enter RealSticks. Made with beef, turkey or pork, they have 40 percent less salt than other meat sticks and a lot less sugar than a protein bar. There is also a list of farms where the company sources meat right on the website. A win-win for me, and you. They are delicious!

2. Kiwa Chips. These tasty chips come in veggie mixes with cassava, sweet potato, beetroot and plantains. There are also potato varieties using pink and purple native Andean potatoes. They use no artificial flavors or preservatives and keep sodium levels low. Kiwa uses Direct Trade to buy their product ingredients from South American small farmers to secure higher incomes, lower farming costs and increase productivity. Supporting sustainable practices through our snacking is such a great way to go.

3. Laughing Giraffe Organics Snakaroons. I loved these little nuggets of coconutty goodness! I tried the vanilla flavor, and I was head over heels for this snack. They are made with organic, non-GMO, gluten-free, raw, vegan and kosher ingredients. The ingredient list for the vanilla is simply unsweetened coconut, almonds, extra virgin coconut oil, agave nectar, vanilla extract and Himalayan pink sea salt.

4. Crispy Green Crispy Fruit. I’ve replaced most of my favorite dried fruit with freeze-dried versions because it can be made without added sugar or oils. It also fits the bill if you want something crunchy. Crispy Green caught my eye at the show because they offer some unique freeze dried fruits: cantaloupe, Asian pear and tangerine! I’m also not much of a banana fan, but I ended up liking their freeze dried bananas, too.