Back-to-school season means stocking up on you and your kids’ favorite snacks: chips, fruit roll-ups, juice boxes, the list goes on. Whether it’s satisfying that after-school hunger or grabbing a bite before sports practice, it’s important to make sure your snack choices benefit you, not harm you. Choosing snacks high in sugar can lead to the sugar rush/crash cycle, draining your energy and leaving you in a slump. Eating foods packed with artificial flavors, dyes, and additives can have further long-term impacts on your health. How can you snack the right way?

Many popular snack brands are filled with empty calories — foods high in calories but lacking essential nutrients. Without vitamins, minerals, fiber, and protein, these snacks are only a temporary solution, leaving you hungry again shortly after. This is one of the key contributors to weight gain and obesity: consuming high-calorie, low-nutrient foods. In addition to being nutritionally empty, many of these same brands include artificial food dyes, flavoring, and preservatives that have a number of associated health risks.

Artificial food dyes, notably Red 40 and Yellow 6, have been found to contribute to hyperactivity and ADHD, particularly in children. These dyes can heighten restlessness behaviors and worsen preexisting symptoms. In extreme cases, the overconsumption of these dyes has been linked to cancer and neurobehavioral disorders (1). Health professionals strongly recommend cutting out these artificial dyes from you and your kids’ diets before any health risks can take effect.

Artificial flavorings are used to enhance or mimic flavors by using chemical compounds to achieve the desired taste. For example, disodium guanylate and disodium inosinate are flavoring additives commonly found in chips that Earth Fare has “booted” on its Boot List. Monosodium glutamate (MSG), a sodium enhancer used in savory snacks, can cause nausea and headaches in some individuals (2). These unnatural flavors have been associated with health issues such as inflammation, allergic reactions, and digestive issues (3). To keep packaged snacks on the store shelves and in your pantry longer, preservatives are added to avoid spoilage. Preservatives can disrupt the gut microbiome system, damaging beneficial bacteria and leading to digestive issues (4).

At Earth Fare, we make sure that our products are free of artificial dyes, flavorings, and preservatives to help prevent these health risks.

Free from all the bad crap, Earth Fare makes shopping simple. While our options never include artificial dyes, flavors, or preservatives, some snacks are better than others. Rather than choosing a bag of chips, go for carrots and dip — a crunchy, healthier alternative. Opt for dried fruit over a fruit roll-up, and grab a clean-ingredient fruit juice instead of a juice box.

Indulging in your favorite snacks in moderation is never a crime; just be mindful of the ingredient labels and understand what it is you are putting into your body. Feeding your body fuels your life. Choose Earth Fare.