Healthy Snacks by Frito-Lay

With the kids licking lollipops and flipping Rockets into their mouths, it’s hard to recall that only a few days ago (pre-trick-or-treat) they happily munched on carrot sticks and homemade oatmeal cookies.  But, soon the candy will run out, and their sugar-laced taste buds will once again appreciate the flavours of home baked goods and naturally sweetened fruits.  It’s not just the moms who are anticipating the return to nutritious snacks, the trend toward healthier munchies, and less junk food eating is being embraced by the big snack producers.  Consider the latest takeover of Alberta-based Spitz International Inc. by PepsiCo Inc., which also owns Frito-Lay North America.  Spitz, which offers packs of sunflower and pumpkin seeds in various flavours, has enjoyed an increasing presence in Canadian grocery stores alongside Doritos and Humpty Dumpty.   

The addition to PepsiCo better enables the global company to meet the growing demand for healthier snacks, and should be seen as a victory to parents who have continuously shunned the junkfood aisle when shopping for their families.  Considering the huge amount of marketing dollars invested by the largest food corporations on snack foods, the news could mean more effort will be devoted to advertising for healthier snacks.  Of course, the best foods continue to be found along the periphery of the grocery stores among the produce and dairy, but when a parent is meandering down the middle aisles while contending with a child begging for chips, won’t it be nice to see a bag of pumpkin seeds beside the ketchup chips?  It’s not so painful to relent to your child when you can say, “Okaaay, you can have something.  Here’s a bag of Spitz.”  And, with enough advertising, perhaps sunflower seeds will become the next cool snack at the party.