The Truth About Garden Vegetable Straws

The label on these garden veggie straws makes them sound like a healthier snack choice than your standard potato chip. The snacks claim to have 30% less fat than the leading potato chips and they contain no artificial flavors or preservatives. Moreover, the product has a light and airy texture and contains several vegetables that most people associate with being healthy. However, when it comes to actual nutritional value, these snacks are not what they seem. In fact, the snacks could be categorized as “deceptively unhealthy foods”—foods that are marketed as being healthful but actually provide little in terms of good nutrition (1).

The main problem with this type of food is that the food has been processed so much that it has lost many of its nutrients, including vitamins, minerals, and phytochemicals (the plant compounds that protect us against disease). It also tends to have too much salt, fat, and sugar compared to its original form (2). In addition, diets that are composed mainly of ultra-processed foods have been linked to serious health problems, such as heart disease (3).

A single ounce of the snacks contains 17 grams of carbohydrates, which is more than what you would find in Lay’s classic potato chips, which have 15 grams per ounce (4). Additionally, the snacks have more than 3 grams of saturated fat (5), which isn’t ideal for a heart-healthy diet.

In a healthy diet, saturated fat should be limited to about 10% of total calories. This is because the fat can raise your cholesterol levels, which in turn can increase your risk for cardiovascular disease (6).

Garden veggie straws have other ingredients as well, such as potato starch and flour, tomato paste, spinach powder, and beet root powder (used for color). Expeller-pressed canola oil and/or safflower oil and/or sunflower oil are the main fat sources in these snacks, which isn’t ideal as it is also high in trans-fats (7).

The truth is that these garden veggie straws don’t have any whole vegetables in them at all (8). All of the vegetables used in the snack are processed into powders, pastes, and oils. As a result, the products don’t count towards your daily recommended amount of veggies—2 to 3 cups per day for women 19 years and older, and 2 1/2 to 4 cups per day for men (19 years and older).

Despite the high carbohydrate content and saturated fat in these snacks, they may still be suitable as part of a balanced diet. As long as they are consumed in moderation, and with a variety of other nutritious foods, this should not negatively impact a person’s overall health (9). However, individuals with certain dietary restrictions may want to choose another snack option. For example, those with gluten sensitivities should avoid snacking on any foods that are made from wheat or other grain-based products. These snacks should only be consumed if they are marked as being gluten-free (10). Luckily, many brands of these snacks offer a variety of options that cater to the different preferences and restrictions of consumers (11).