Yogurt, Chips and Fresh Fruit Among Top Growing Snack Foods

Chicago—Chidren aged 2-17 ate more refrigerated yogurt as a snack-oriented food in 2009 than they did in 2008, but fresh fruit remained the top snack food consumed by this age group, according to The NPD Group, a market research company.

NPD’s SnackTrack defines snack foods as a group of foods generally perceived to be snack foods, such as candy, chips, fruit, regardless of when consumed. Sixty percent of snacks are consumed at snack occasions, before, between, and after meals or throughout the day, and the remaining snacks are eaten with or instead of main meals. One out of every five meals consumed in the U.S. is a snack meal.

The 10 snack-oriented foods which saw the greatest growth between 2008 and 2009 in annual eatings per capita by children were:
1. Yogurt (refrigerated)
2. Potato Chips
3. Fresh Fruit
4. String Cheese/Prepackaged Cheese Cubes/Shapes
5. Hard Candy
6. Ice/Fudge/Cream Pops
7. Chewy Candy
8. Corn Chips
9. Donuts
10. Snack Pies/Pastries

More information is available at The NPD Group/SnackTrack.