Calories in Fruit Snacks for Kids

Kids are known for not liking fruits and vegetables. Fruit snacks could be a good way to let kids increase their daily intake of fruits. Altough not as wholesome as the fresh fruit, certain fruit snacks can be nutrition and can make kids to want then due to their intense flavor. The ideal snack is the one made by drying real fruit with no
added sugar or additives (artificial color, preservatives, sugar, etc).

In general, fruit snacks can go anywhere from 50 to 150 calories derived from the high content of carbohydrates. Generally, fruit snacks have no fat, no cholesterol, no protein or very small amounts of it. Many of the snacks available on the market are fortified with different vitamins, especially vitamin C and E, which is an added benefit for kids and adults alike.

Betty Crocker Fruit Roll Ups, Berry Flavored, with Vitamin C

You can get more than 100 calories (104) with a serving of Betty Crocker Fruit Roll Ups. A serving consists of two rolls or 28 g as the nutrition label indicates. The majority of the calories will come from the carbohydrates that contains (91.8%). The rest of the calories come from fat and protein. Unfortunately a serving of this fruit snack has 89 mg of sodium which is pretty high for a snack. On the bright side, the snack is enriched with vitamin C.

Seneca Crispy Apple Chips Original

Seneca Crispy Apple Chips Original has 7 g of fat in a serving (28g) which is way too high (25% fat). It gives the consumer 140 calories of which 60 come from fat.The rest of the fruit snack is sugar. There is almost no protein (0.1g).

FruitaBu Apple Roll

Contrary to the previous fruit snack, the FruitaBu Apple Roll has only 1.5g of fat which represents only 7% of the serving size (21 g). There 16g of carbohydrates of which 14g are sugar. The nutritional label does not report protein.

I have selected 3 of the main fruit snacks. There are many more. But is general they are high in carbohydrates and in general in refined carbs (sugar). The majority have almost no protein which I believe is a problem. If you wish to use fruit snacks as away to increase the fruit and vegetable intake of your kids you need to read labels and select those snacks that are made of real fruit. Be aware of those fruit snacks that are made by flavored and colored fillings. They do not contain any real fruit. Prefer those where the fruit has been sun dried or better off freeze-dried (freeze-drying is a technology the preserves the nutrients of the food better than many other drying
technologies)

References
Fennema, OR. Food Chemistry (Food Science and Technology). CRC Press; 3 edition (June 12, 1996)

FruitaBu Apple Roll Nutrition Facts (http://www.fatsecret.com/ Diary.aspx?pa=fjrd&rid=1587747 )

Seneca Foods Crispy Apple Chips Nutrition Facts (http://www.fatsecret.com/ calories-nutrition/seneca- foods/crispy-apple-chips)