Background of Grab ‘n’ Go Snacks
Introduction
“They (snack foods
high in fat, sugar and salt) all create reward responses in a part of your
brain – you have it, you like it, you want more. So the most important thing,
from my perspective, is to plan your snacks and have them with you.” –Professor
Tim Gill from the Boden Institute of Obesity, Nutrition, Exercise and Eating
Disorders at the University of Sydney.
Snacks have been one of the food that are important for us.
Be it when we are hungry or watching the television or even at a party, we can
always enjoy the snacks. Needless to say, snacks are the kind food that
everyone can enjoy in their own perfect way. By referring to the dictionary,
snack is a small portion of food or drink or a light meal, especially one eaten
between regular meals. It also mean to share or to divide but it is rarely
used. In Australian Slang, snack is something easily done.
The Origin of Snack
The word snack came from Middle Dutch or Flemish, “snacken” – to snatch, snap;
chatter,which Watkins traces to a hypothetical Germanic imitative root “snu” – forming a word having to do with
the nose. The meaning “have a mere bite or morsel, eat a light meal” is first
attested 1807.
About Snacks
Snacks come in a variety of forms including packaged snack
foods and other processed foods, as well as items made from fresh ingredients
at home. Traditionally, snacks are prepared from ingredients commonly available
in the home. Often cold cuts, fruit, leftovers, nuts, sandwiches, and the like
are used as snacks. The Dagwood sandwich was originally the humorous result of
a cartoon character's desire for large snacks. With the spread of convenience
stores, packaged snack foods became a significant business.
Snack foods are typically designed to be portable, quick,
and satisfying. Processed snack foods, as one form of convenience food, are
designed to be less perishable, more durable, and more portable than prepared
foods. They often contain substantial amounts of sweeteners, preservatives, and
appealing ingredients such as chocolate, peanuts, and specially-designed
flavors (such as flavored potato chips). Beverages, such as coffee, are not
generally considered snacks though they may be consumed along with or in lieu
of snack foods.
Healthy snacks include those that have significant vitamins,
are low in saturated fat and added sugars, and have a low sodium content. Examples
of healthy snacks include:
- Fruits and vegetables
- Foods that have whole grains
- Nuts and seeds
Government bodies like Health
Canada are recommending that people make a conscious effort to eat healthier,
natural snacks such as fruit, vegetables, nuts and cereal grains while avoiding
high-calorie, low-nutrient junk food. A 2010 study showed that children in the
United States snacked on average six times per day, approximately twice as
often as American children in the 1970s. This represents consumption of roughly
570 calories more per day than U.S. children consumed in the 1970s.
A Tufts University, Department of
Psychology empirical study titled, "Effect
of an afternoon confectionery snack on cognitive processes critical to learning"
found that a consumption of a confectionery snack in the afternoon improved
spatial memory in the study's sample group, but in the area of attention performance
had a mixed effect.
Potato chips are a predominant
part of the snack food market in Western countries. The global potato chip
market generated total revenues of US$16.49 billion in 2005. This accounted for
35.5% of the total savory snacks market in that year ($46.1 billion). The
earliest known recipe for potato chips is in William Kitchiner's cookbook The
Cook's Oracle, first published in 1817, which was a bestseller in England and
the United States.
The 1822 edition's version of
recipe 104 is called "
Potatoes fried
in Slices or Shavings" and reads "
peel large potatoes, slice them about a quarter of an inch thick, or
cut them in shavings round and round, as you would peel a lemon; dry them well
in a clean cloth, and fry them in lard or dripping". Generally, nowadays
crisps and chips include savory snack products made from
not just potato, but also corn, tapioca, or other cereals, and root vegetables.
