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The Health Promotion Program, Tompkins County (NY) Health Department, developed and maintains this web site. (more...)

Choosing Healthy Snacks

 A 2-step guide for wellness committees

Many worksites have created successful Healthy Snack programs for employees. Of course, to be a successful wellness program, the snacks should reflect sound nutritional guidelines. Unfortunately, sifting through the marketing claims of 1,000's of snack products to qualify which are actually "healthy" can be confusing and unpredictable.

To assist with this task, consider the following guidelines.
  1. All fresh fruits and vegetables make a healthy snack!
  2. Read the NUTRITION FACTS label and INGREDIENTS label on all packaged and processed foods.
    • Post Nutrition Facts at the snack area or on your wellness bulletin board, when appropriate.

 More Info 

Nutrition Facts labels

5 A Day Challenge

Start a Fruit & Snack Bowl program

  • Nutrition Facts Label:
    • Read the Percent Daily Value (%DV*) given for listed nutrients
      • When the %DV is 5% or less, the food is considered Low in that nutrient.
      • When the %DV is 20% or more, the food is considered High in that nutrient.
       

    Choose foods HIGH in these nutrients:

  • Dietary Fiber. The USDA recommends a diet with at least 25g of dietary fiber daily.
  • Calcium.
  • Vitamins A and C.

    and foods LOW in

  • Saturated Fat and
  • Cholesterol.

    • Limit foods HIGH in these nutrients:

  • Sodium.
  • Sugar. The USDA suggests limiting sugar intake to no more than 10 teaspoons a day—about 45g.*
    Others† recommend limiting ADDED SUGARS to 25% or less of daily calories (~125g for a 2,000 calorie diet.)

    • Avoid foods HIGH in these nutrients:

  • Saturated Fat
  • Cholesterol
  • Practice portion control…
    Avoid pre-packaged snacks containing more than ONE (1) SERVING PER PACKAGE.
    		•

    *Percent Daily Values (%DV) are and recommended limits are based on a 2,000-calorie diet.
    † National Academies of Science report on Dietary Reference Intakes for macronutrients, Sept. 2002.
     
  • Ingredients:
    • Judge foods by their ingredients, not their product name, slogan, or advertising claims
       

    COMPLEX CARBOHYDRATES

  • Look for whole grains and other COMPLEX CARBOHYDRATES in the ingredient list. They have a higher nutritional value.
    Examples: whole wheat flour, brown rice, old-fashioned rolled oats
  • Simple or refined carbohydrates have a lower nutritional value
    Examples: bleached wheat flour, rice flour, sugar, honey.)

    • ADDED SUGARS

  • Processed foods in which ADDED SUGARS such as high-fructose corn syrup is the first or second ingredients often have a lower nutritional value than foods without a lot of added sweeteners.
  • Pay attention to second-tier ingredients (the ingredients of an ingredient.)

    • HYDROGENATED OILS

  • Foods that contain any HYDROGENATED OILS are a source of undesirable Trans fatty acids.

    • Download PDF version (100KB)
     

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