6 top picks for off-the-shelf snacks

Six top picks for off the shelf snacks
Snacking has become a way of life for many families. If your between-meal pick-me-ups are well chosen, they can contribute to your kids' daily nutrient needs. They can be the same as mini-meals, with foods chosen from the four food groups. Here are our top six supermarket snack picks.

1. Sun-Rype Strawberry Fruit To Go 100% Fruit Snacks
Why we picked it: The ingredients list includes fruit purée and fruit juice concentrates with no artificial flavours, colours or preservatives and no added sugar, so we knew we had a winner.

To top it off, one bar has only 50 calories, no fat, one gram of fibre and no sodium. It's a tasty and very handy way for kids to get some of their five to 10 fruits and vegetables a day. It also comes in the following delicious flavours: Grape, Raspberry, Cherry, Wildberry, Tropical, Banana, Orange and Fruit Punch. These fruit snacks carry the Health Check symbol, so their nutritional information has been reviewed by the Heart and Stroke Foundation and meets specific nutrient criteria based on Canada's Food Guide to Healthy Eating.

2. Kellogg's Two Scoops Raisin Bran Bar
Why we picked it: Made from Kellogg's Raisin Bran cereal, this bar is low in fat, is trans fat–free and, since it's portable, it makes an excellent option for breakfast on the run. One bar contains 110 calories and 1.5 grams of fat. It also has iron, vitamins B1, B2 and B6, folate, phosphorous, magnesium and zinc.

The bar is also a good source of fibre (two grams per bar). To figure out the approximate number of grams of fibre your child needs daily, add five to his or her age.