What’s Actually in Your Kid’s Favorite Snacks — and What to Do About It

Most parents work hard to make sure their kids are eating well. You read labels, look for better ingredients, keep snacks on hand they’ll actually eat, and try to get some variety in whenever you can.

So it’s understandably frustrating to learn that even some snacks that seem like good choices may contain things you’d never find on the ingredient list.

In Consumer Reports testing of 21 popular kids’ snacks, 14 had at least one contaminant at a level the organization considered concerning. The products included familiar snacks from brands such as Annie’s and Nature Valley.

The findings don’t mean parents have been making bad choices. They highlight something that’s largely outside our control when we’re standing in the grocery aisle, and give us a little more information to work with going forward.

What Did Consumer Reports Find?

The testing looked for heavy metals as well as acrylamide, phthalates, and compounds called glycidyl esters that can be associated with refined oils.

There was some good news when it came to heavy metals. Consumer Reports didn’t find concerning levels of lead or arsenic in the products it tested, and only one contained enough cadmium for the organization to recommend limiting it.

Other contaminants showed up more frequently.

Acrylamide can form when starchy foods such as potatoes and grains are cooked at high temperatures. Glycidyl esters can form during the high-temperature refining of certain vegetable oils. Phthalates can make their way into food during processing, packaging, and handling.

These aren’t things you’d necessarily know about from reading a nutrition label, which is part of what makes independent testing like this useful.

Why Kids Need Extra Consideration

Children are smaller than adults and their bodies and brains are still developing, so reducing unnecessary exposure to certain contaminants is especially important during childhood.

The concern is also less about one isolated exposure and more about what can add up when the same foods are eaten frequently over time.

That’s why one of the most practical responses isn’t to obsess over every ingredient. It’s to give kids a wider variety of foods so the same products and ingredients aren’t showing up day after day.

Bring More Whole Foods Into Snack Time

Whole foods can make this surprisingly simple.

An orange, banana, or apple is already easy to take along. Berries or sliced fruit can go into a reusable container. Depending on your child’s age and needs, yogurt, cheese, hard-boiled eggs, vegetables with hummus, and nuts, seeds, or nut and seed butters can add protein, fiber, healthy fats, vitamins, and minerals.

You can also make some snacks at home when it works for your family. Homemade muffins, trail mix, roasted chickpeas, overnight oats, energy bites, or popcorn for older kids are all ways to add more variety while having more control over the ingredients.

This doesn’t have to mean spending Sunday afternoon meal-prepping snacks for the entire week. Sometimes it’s as simple as grabbing an orange instead of another packaged option.

Mix Up the Foods They Eat Most

Variety matters even within foods that seem like healthy choices.

If rice-based snacks are a regular part of your child’s diet, rotate in other grains such as oats, corn, or wheat. Instead of relying on fruit pouches every day, switch between different whole fruits. Rotate protein and fat sources among yogurt, cheese, eggs, hummus, nuts, and seeds when appropriate.

The benefit goes beyond reducing repeated exposure to any one contaminant. A more varied diet also gives kids a broader range of nutrients, textures, and flavors.

And when you are buying packaged snacks, testing like this can help you make more informed choices between products that otherwise look very similar on the shelf.

What to Do If You Already Have These Snacks at Home

First, don’t panic about what your child has already eaten. These findings are about reducing exposure over time, not about a single snack causing harm.

If one of the products that tested higher is something your child eats frequently, Consumer Reports’ findings can help you decide what you’d rather buy going forward. You can also use it as an opportunity to bring a few more whole foods into the rotation and vary the ingredients your child eats most often.

Parents already have plenty to think about when feeding their kids. You can’t control every contaminant that makes its way into the food supply, but you can use information like this to make thoughtful changes where they make sense for your family.