Part of the Meals series

Common meals

Breakfast

Brunch

Lunch

Tea

Dinner

Supper

See also

Cuisine • Kitchen Buffet • Banquet

A snack food (commonly called a snack) is seen in Western culture as a type of food not meant to be eaten as a main meal of the day – breakfast, lunch, or dinner – but one rather that is intended to assuage a person's hunger between these meals, providing a brief supply of energy for the body. For the coarsely ground flour see Flour. A meal is an instance of Eating, specifically one that takes place at a specific time and includes Breakfast is the first meal of the day The word derives from the idea of break ing the '''fast''' of sleep Brunch or bruncheon is a combination of breakfast and lunch The term is a Portmanteau of '''br'''eakfast and l'''unch'''(eon. Luncheon, commonly abbreviated to lunch, is a midday Meal. In English-speaking countries during the eighteenth century what was originally called " Depending on a country's customs tea can refer to any of several different meals or mealtimes Dinner is the main Meal of the day The meal normally consists of a combination of cooked or sometimes uncooked proteins (meat fish or legumes with vegetables and/or Supper is the name for the evening meal in some Dialects of English - ordinarily the last meal of the day Cuisine (from French cuisine, "cooking culinary art kitchen" ultimately from Latin coquere, "to cook" is a specific set For the Banana Yashimoto novel see Kitchen (novel A kitchen, is a room or part of a room (sometimes called "kitchen A buffet is a meal serving system where patrons serve themselves A banquet is a large public meal or feast complete with main courses and desserts Western culture (sometimes equated with Western Civilization) are terms which are used to refer to Cultures of European origin For the coarsely ground flour see Flour. A meal is an instance of Eating, specifically one that takes place at a specific time and includes Breakfast is the first meal of the day The word derives from the idea of break ing the '''fast''' of sleep Luncheon, commonly abbreviated to lunch, is a midday Meal. In English-speaking countries during the eighteenth century what was originally called " Dinner is the main Meal of the day The meal normally consists of a combination of cooked or sometimes uncooked proteins (meat fish or legumes with vegetables and/or Hunger is a feeling experienced usually followed by a desire to Eat. The term may also refer to a food item consumed between meals purely for the enjoyment of its taste.

Traditionally snacks were prepared from ingredients commonly available in the home, often leftovers, sandwiches made from cold cuts, nuts, fruit, and the like. The Dagwood sandwich was originally the humorous result of a cartoon character's desire for large snacks. A Dagwood sandwich is a thick multi-layered Sandwich made up of a wide variety of meats cheeses and condiments

With the multiplication of convenience stores, packaged snack foods are now a significant business. Snack foods are typically designed to be portable, quick and satisfying. Processed snack foods are designed to be less perishable, more durable, and/or more appealing than prepared foods. Food processing is the set of methods and techniques used to transform raw Ingredients into Food or to transform food into other forms for consumption by They often contain substantial amounts of sweeteners, preservatives, and appealing ingredients such as chocolate, peanuts, and specially designed flavors (such as flavored potato chips). A sweetener is a Food additive which adds the Basic taste of Sweetness to a food artificial sweeteners are Sugar substitutes A preservative is a natural or synthetic chemical that is added to products such as foods pharmaceuticals paints biological samples wood etc Chocolate ( pronounced or /-ˈələt/ comprises a number of raw and processed foods that are produced from the seed of the tropical Cacao tree The peanut, or Groundnut ( Arachis hypogaea) is a species in the Legume family Fabaceae native to South America, Mexico A potato chip or crisp is a thin slice of Potato, deep fried or baked until Crisp.

Nutritional concerns

Healthy snacks as paprika can be sliced or eaten off-hand

Snack foods are often subjectively classified as junk food; they have little or no nutritional value, and are not seen as contributing towards general health and nutrition. Junk food is a broad term that is used to describe a variety of Food products from Sweets that contain little to no Nutritional value to products used in Health is a state of complete physical mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity Nutrition (also called nourishment or aliment) is the provision to cells and Organisms of the materials necessary (in the form of food to support With growing concerns for diet, weight control and general health, government bodies like Health Canada^[1] are recommending that people make a conscious effort to eat more healthy, natural snacks – such as fruit, vegetables, nuts and cereal grains – while avoiding high-calorie, low-nutrient junk food. This article is primarily about the human diet For a discussion of animal diets see List of feeding behaviours. Dieting is the practice of ingesting food in a regulated fashion to achieve or maintain a controlled weight Health is a state of complete physical mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity Health Canada ( French: Santé Canada) is the department of the government of Canada with responsibility for national Public health The term fruit has different meanings dependent on context and the term is not synonymous in Food preparation and Biology. The term " vegetable " generally means the edible parts of Plants The definition of the word is traditional rather than Scientific, however Nut is a general term for the large dry oily Seeds or Fruit of some Plants.

Industry concerns

Potato Chips or crisps. A potato chip or crisp is a thin slice of Potato, deep fried or baked until Crisp.

The snack food industry in market-driven societies such as the United States generates billions of dollars in revenue each year. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the The market for processed snack foods is enormous, and a number of large corporations compete rigorously to capture larger shares of the snack food market. Consequently, heavy promotions are used to convince consumers to buy snack foods. Processed snack foods are advertised far more than regular nutritional foods (such as fruit, vegetables, meat, dairy products), and the flashiest TV commercials and advertising campaigns are often designed to sell these products. A television advertisement or television commercial (often just commercial or advert (US or ad (UK is a span of television programming produced Advertising is a form of Communication that typically attempts to persuade potential Customers to Purchase or to consume more of a particular Brand

However, realizing the potential market discovered by companies such as Hansen's Natural, companies like Frito-Lay, PepsiCo, and Coca-Cola are now creating new alternatives for consumers. For the chips synonymous with the company see Fritos and Lay's. PepsiCo Incorporated (Short for Pepsi Company ( is a large conglomerate with interests in manufacturing marketing and selling a wide variety of carbonated and non- carbonated Coca-Cola is a carbonated Soft drink sold in stores restaurants and Vending machines in more than 200 countries

Types of snack foods

Gallery

Popcorn	Trail mix	A Cheez-It cracker	Candy
Chocolate bar	Chocolate chip cookie	Fruit	Cheetos

See also

• List of snack foods
• Canapés

References

External links

• How to choose healthy snack for your diet