The 10 Worst Snack Foods       

By Jonny Bowden, M.A., C.N.S.

Enter any convenience store in the United States and you'll quickly spot an array of so-called foods that could have come straight off the request list on Lil' Bow Wow's concert rider (I did not make this up. The young rapper's contract states that he must have the following foods backstage: Twizzlers, Doritos, Sprite, Starbursts, Hawaiian Punch and orange soda). But hey, Bow Wow's no worse than Britney, Christina or any teen in any mall anywhere in America. Or their parents.

Snack food in America seems to become more horrible with every passing year. Here's my list of the worst snack foods of all time. (But be forewarned: This list could become outdated the minute the food industry introduces yet another must-have concoction of sugar, chemicals, colouring and grease to add pounds to your waistline while adding nothing to your nutrition.)

1. French Fries
Don't be reassured by the fact that McDonald's is changing its cooking oil. French fries are still starchy white potatoes cooked in hot fat and flavoured with chemicals and sugar. Possibly the worst snack food on the planet.

2. Doughnuts
Fried bread. Need I say more? And if that wasn't bad enough, add a sugary cream filling and a glaze of more sugar on top. Any questions?

3. Chips (Potato or Corn)
These are really just a packaged version of French fries (see #1). However, you can do damage control on this one by switching to baked blue corn chips, available in health food stores. It's still not real food, but it beats the 7-Eleven version any day.

4. Soda Pop
And sorry, this includes the diet kind. Absolutely nothing of any value here, and a whole lot of chemicals to boot.

5. Cupcakes and Snack Cakes
The creamy filling is fake whipped cream, and the rest of it is sugar, flour and flavouring. You've gotta be kidding.

6. Candy Bars
You might squeeze a gram or two of protein out of the nuts in some of them, but by and large they're a sugar orgy and a nutrition nightmare. Again, you can move slightly up the food chain by switching to one of the "energy" bars. Most are just candy bars disguised as health food but they often have 1/3 less calories, quite a bit more protein and a bit less fat. Don't confuse them with real food though.

7. Pork Rinds
Fried pork skin. Not a good thing!

8. Fat-Free Cookies
These are even more insidious because they pretend to be healthy. Remember, fat-free doesn't equal calorie free. Betcha can't eat just one!

9. Crackers
Trans-fats anyone? Most crackers are loaded with 'em. Read your labels carefully to find the few that aren't.

10. Pretzels
Surprise, surprise. Remember, just because something doesn't have fat doesn't make it good. This is just white flour, water and sugar masquerading as a healthy snack. Fuggedaboutit.

Runner up: Those creamy, carmelly, coconutty coffee mocha-latte-frappe drinks that are taking over the universe. I love my Starbucks too, but 20 ounces of caffeine, sugar, whipped cream and milk taken once or twice a day does not a lean waistline make!