Cereal-Based Snacks

The current world market for snack foods represents a volume of more than 4.2 billion kg, which is equivalent to approximately 34.8 billion of annual sales. The United States alone manufactures and sells approximately 61% of this. In 2002, the American and British people had the highest annual per capita consumption of snack chips that included potato chips, tortilla chips, and extruded snacks, with an average annual intake of 7.3 and 6 kg, respectively. Netherlanders, Australians, Spaniards, and Mexicans are next on the list (Pepsico 2004, Sema-Saldivar 2008). 

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Since most snack foods are based on cereals (wheat, corn, rice), a great deal of attention has focused on fortification/supplementation of traditional cereal-based foods. Worldwide, cereals represent the major source of calories and proteins for humans i.e. 52% and 47% of the world s average per capita... 

Snack foods include a vast array of food items ranging from cereal-based crackers and com chips to high-protein snacks such as beef sticks and jerky. In past years, smoking of snack foods was limited primarily to meat snacks, as other snack foods were difficult to handle in the traditional smokehouse. With the development of natural smoke flavourings, snack food manufacturers can now incorporate these flavourings into a variety of products to produce smoked, barbecued, roasted or grilled flavours. 

Stojceska, V., Ainsworth, P., Plunkett, A., Ibanoglu, E., and Ibanoglu, S. (2008). Cauliflower by-products as a new source of dietary fibre, antioxidants and proteins in cereal based ready-to-eat expanded snacks.. Food Eng. 87,554—563. 

Serna-Saldivar, S.O. 2008. Manufacturing of cereal-based dry milled fractions, potato flour, dry masa flour and starches. Chapter 2 in Industrial Manifacture of Snack Foods. Kennedys Publications, London. 

The main sources of trans fatty acids in the UK diet are cereal-based products (providing 27% of total trans fatty acid intake), margarines, spreads, and frying oils (22%), meat and meat products (18%), and milk, butter, and cheese (16%). In the USA, the main sources of intake are baked goods (28%), fried foods (25%), margarine, spreads, and shortenings (25%), savory snacks (10%), and milk and butter (9%). 

Maize snacks and maize-based breakfast cereals - -... 

Currently, many types of extruded food products are produced (9) and include ready to eat (RTE) cereals, snack foods, beverage bases, as well as soft-moist and dry pet foods. 

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