Comparing Orville Redenbacher’s SmartPop! with My Kids’ Regular Snacks

All this month, my family and I have been participating in the Orville Rendenbacher’s “Healthy Snacking Challenge” to swap out our regular snacks for Orville Redenbacher’s SmartPop!.

Today I’m going to look at a side-by-side comparison of what my kids would typically eat as an after-school snack vs. the healthier option of SmartPop!. Disclaimer: I am NOT a health professional or certified researcher. This was just me, being a mom, pulling things from the pantry, measuring them out, then reading the labels. Here we go…

 

The snacks and their nutritional information:

abt. 1 cup (5 packets) “fruit snacks” =

• 350 calories; 0 calories from fat
• 0g total fat
• 0mg sodium
• 85g total carbs; 0g dietary fiber, 55g sugars

Also, in reading the nutritional information on a box of popcorn, there can be a bit of confusion, as all manufacturers list details for unpopped vs popped. Here I took my data straight from the box of Orville Redenbacher’s SmartPop!: “As popped 1 cup provides 0g of total fat (0g saturated fat, 0g trans fat), 0mg cholesterol, 20mg sodium, 25mg potassium, 3g total carbohydrate (less than 1g dietary fiber) and 0g protein.”

Thoughts:

The “fruit snacks” may have the 0g of fat going for them, but look at the calories and sugar content! Not only was it the smallest portion, but the highest in both of those areas. The “baked snack crackers” are low in sugar, but higher than even I expected in sodium, and the calories from fat and total fat concern me. The Orville Redenbacher’s SmartPop! has several clear advantages: not only can you eat a much larger portion, but even though is it 1 or 5 times as much as the other snacks, it still has lower calories, lower sodium, and higher fiber.

Conclusion:

Switching out my kids’ regular snacks for Orville Redenbacher’s SmartPop! means that they can eat more and feel fuller until dinnertime, and I can feel better about the nutritional content of their snack!

If you would like to know more about taking your own “Healthy Snacking Challenge,” visit Orville Redenbacher’s on Facebook.

*Disclosure: I wrote this review while participating in an ambassador campaign by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of Orville Redenbacher’s. I received Orville Redenbacher’s SmartPop! products as well as a promotional item as a thanks for my participation. All opinions expressed are honest and my own.

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