The Snack Age

Snacks have a very broad definition. Especially in India, the ambit of snacks is vast and wide.

Biscuits are snacks, a packet of Kurkure or Namkeen is also a snack, a McDonald's burger could pass off as a snack, though in some cases and for some people with little appetite and great tension, it is a great, quick meal too.

If you are hungry, pizza too could be demoted to a snack item from its position of a coveted fast food meal. Pakoras are snacks, samosas are also snacks, tikkis are snacks, patties are snacks, croissants are snacks, cakes and pastries could be snacks, munching the Munch while skipping lunch also amounts to consuming a snack.

In fact, any intake of a small portion of food between the three main meals of breakfast, lunch and dinner, conjures up the popular definition of a snack. If you go by this definition, then strictly speaking, any solid food which we consume between our main meals can be a snack.

Beverages, except when they possess a substantial food item and are blended to create a smoothie, are not normally considered as snacks, though tea and coffee heightens the enjoyment of a snack to a great extent. Many of the snacks have great influence on the bakery industry, or at least to the process of baking, either directly or indirectly. Yes, samosas and tikkis could also be baked for health reasons, without compromising on their taste, and many are enjoying the baked versions of samosas and tikkis already.

Some health experts are, however worried about this rising business of munching around, irrespective of the time of the day. They declare that irregular consumption of food, particularly low nutrient-value products, is one of the primary causes for paving the way for a plethora of lifestyle related diseases. It is important to give a serious thought about the kind of snacks one consumes, which can prevent us from acquiring unwarranted calories, fats and sugar.

The Convenience