Extruded Snacks

What these 10 brands claim

These are a category of snacks made by a different process – extrusion cooking, to be specific. This process allows for the making of products with all kinds of shapes (twisted, ring- or cubeshaped, etc.) and textures. For understanding nutrition information as given on the label, we took up 10 popular brands of extruded snacks focusing on the protein and energy parameters. As usual, we have also rated the salt, sugar and fat quantities as per the traffic light colours to enable consumers to quickly decide if the product they are picking up is a healthy choice.

Nutritional labelling of packaged food products refers to the disclosure of the main nutrients, such as energy, fat, protein, carbohydrate, sugar and salt content, on the label. As per India’s Food Safety and Standards (Packaging & Labelling) Regulations, 2011, mandatory nutritional information or nutritional facts per 100 grams or 100 millilitres or per serving of the product shall be given on the label. Such information shall contain the following: a) energy value in kilocalories (kcal) b) the amounts of protein, carbohydrate (specify

quantity of sugar) and fat in gram (g) or ml c) the amount of any other nutrient for which a

nutrition or health claim is made Note that declaration of salt or sodium is not mandatory. This is despite the recommendation of Codex Alimentarius Commission – a joint intergovernmental body of Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations (FAO) and World Health Organization (WHO) with over 185 member states – for declaring saturated fat and sodium or salt.