What to Look for when Choosing Children’s Snacks

* This is a sponsored post for Organix *
You only have to walk down the supermarket kid's snack aisle to see just how much choice there is. All bright and colourful packaging with various health and taste claims. But what should you be looking for when choosing children’s snacks and what brands can you trust?

We have teamed up with Organix to show you the kind of things you should be looking out for when choosing toddler snacks, along with some scary facts you might not know about the snacks you are already buying.

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Everyone is a perfect parent until they have children. You know those things you say when you don’t have children and then when you do have kids, you laugh at the ideal world that your pre-child self lived in?

Well, I was one of those people. I said that I would never give my kids packaged snacks, or use snacks to handle a tantrum. Well, I quickly changed my mind on that and I am sure that anyone that has been on a flight with a toddler, or done a 5 hour car journey has done the same.

The thing is, snacks for kids now are so much different than they were 30 years ago when I was a toddler (*ahem* showing my age there). There are some fantastic options out there, with very few ingredients, like Organix, and it means that there doesn’t have to be any mum-guilt when opening a second bag of snacks 15 minutes into an 11 hour flight. But that isn’t always the case. There are a lot of snacks out there that are aimed at kids, so you would think they are healthy, but they are far from it.

Over the past 5 years or so, the range of baby finger foods and toddler snacks has expanded massively. That has come at a nutritional cost though, as standards have slipped. The quantity and quality of unnecessary ingredients is pretty shocking when you take a close look at the packages of some of these snacks aimed at little ones. That’s where I think things have gone wrong in the toddler snack department. Many brands have put their profits ahead of children’s health. They are giving people so much choice, to make more sales, but most of it is far from nutritious and not what we want to be fuelling our little ones with.

 

We have teamed up with Organix this year as one of their No Junk Journey ambassadors to talk to you all about healthy snacking for kids. We all know to read labels on the food we buy, but how do we know what to look for? Here are our top tips on what to look for when choosing children’s snacks.

• Watch out for a long ingredients list. As a general rule, go for snacks that have as few ingredients as possible. A long ingredients list is usually a sign that there are unnecessary ingredients and additives.
• Added ingredients. Look out for anything unnecessary like added salt, sugar or flavourings. Kids snacks don’t need all of that to be delicious.
• Do you recognise the ingredients? If you don’t know what it is, then do you really want your kid eating it? If it’s an ingredient that you have never heard of before, or can’t pronounce, then it’s probably an unnecessary additive and you want to stay well away. Go with simple ingredients that you recognise.
• Go organic where possible. If you see the organic logo on the packaging, like with Organix products, then you can be sure that what you are buying has been made to the highest standards.

In a survey that Organix carried out, 76% of parents were shocked to discover that some baby and toddler snacks contain up to 30 separate ingredients. Thirty!!! There really isn’t any need for that many. They found that 85% of parents were shocked to find some baby finger foods and toddler snacks contain almost the same level of salt as a regular bag of adult crisps. 82% were shocked that extra salt is added to some baby and toddler snacks to boost the flavour. So, when we think we are doing the healthy thing by giving our kids specific toddler food, rather than a bag of Wotsits, sometimes it doesn’t even make a difference.

Take a look at this video from Cherry Healey, who investigates what is hiding in some baby and toddler snacks.

It’s not just the ingredients in kids snacks, it’s the labelling that is confusing parents too. ‘All natural’, ‘nutritious’ - what do they really mean and can anyone just slap that label on their products? In future posts, as part of my role on the Organix Junk Buster Panel, I will be looking at what these labels really mean. 63% of parents want brands to be more transparent about food labelling and 31% of parents say it’s not always clear from labels what ingredients are included in the food. That’s one of the many things we love about Organix products - everything is so clear.

If you are confused about what baby and toddler snacks to choose, not sure what brands to trust, then check out the Organix range next time you are at the supermarket. We love Organix and their No Junk Promise – it’s reassurance that they never add anything unnecessary and are always organic. Every product is Avery approved too - especially the Sweet Cinnamon Puffcorn and the Raisin Mini Boxes.

Do you want to see what all the other Junk Busters are saying and have your say too? Follow the hashtag #FoodYouCanTrust and get involved.

Have you seen our post on Cooking With Kids? There are loads of tips, recipes and age related tasks to get your little ones active in the kitchen.

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You can find me on Facebook at Hungry Healthy Happy. On Instagram at @hungryhealthyhappy. On Twitter at @HHH_Dannii. Or on Pinterest at hhhdannii. You can also subscribe via email.

 ~ This post on What to Look for when Choosing Children’s Snacks has been commissioned by Organix ~
~ Thank you for supporting the brands that make it possible for us to run this site. We love creating delicious recipes that show healthy eating doesn't have to be boring ~
~ All opinions are our own ~