Bamba Peanut Butter Snacks — OKAY

Munch or Dump rates Bamba Peanut Butter Snacks by Trader Joe's OKAY — score 70/90.

About as clean as a packaged puffed snack gets: corn, peanuts, oil and salt, and nothing else. No added sugar, no flavor enhancers, no artificial anything. It is still a salty extruded snack rather than a whole food, but the four-ingredient list is genuinely honest.

Why this verdict

• Only four ingredients, all recognizable: corn, peanuts, oil, salt
• No added sugar, no sweetener system, no flavor enhancers
• No artificial colors, flavors or preservatives
• Real peanut paste gives it some protein and healthy fat
• Still a puffed, salted snack fried/baked in palm oil, so not a whole food

Ingredients (4)

• Corn Grits (safe) — Milled corn, the puffed base.
• Peanut paste (peanuts) (safe) — Real ground peanuts; adds protein and fat.
• Palm Oil (moderate) — Saturated tropical oil in the cookies, part of the hyper-palatable fat load.
• Salt (moderate) — Adds sodium; the only reason to watch portions if you are sodium-sensitive.