Animal Crackers – An Unhealthy Snack?

By Sarah Olson | June 14, 2010

Remember eating Barnum’s Animal Crackers as a snack when you were a child? I used to love them! My Mom thought that since they didn’t have sugar in them, that they were a healthy snack. Carrying on this tradition, I have always thought that animal crackers were a healthy alternative (or at least healthier) to Oreos, brownies, cakes and other sugary treats that children seem to crave.

So what’s up with the animal crackers? The Barnum Animal Crackers contain high fructose corn syrup, one of the biggest culprits behind child obesity in this country.

Ingredients: ENRICHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, NIACIN, REDUCED IRON, THIAMINE MONONITRATE [VITAMIN B1], RIBOFLAVIN [VITAMIN B2], FOLIC ACID), HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, SUGAR, SOYBEAN OIL, YELLOW CORN FLOUR, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED COTTONSEED OIL, CALCIUM CARBONATE (SOURCE OF CALCIUM), BAKING SODA, SALT, SOY LECITHIN (EMULSIFIER), ARTIFICIAL FLAVOR.

Since starting this blog, I keep finding more and more things that are unhealthy for my kids…but are being advertised as being healthy! As I find them, I will update you with the ingredients and products that are being advertised as healthy. This way, you can be sure your children stay healthy too!

Posted in Unhealthy Foods

7 Comments

  1. Shawna on June 24, 2010 at 10:56 am

    Thank-you for posting this…we definitely need to become more aware of these invisible dangers.



  2. Dan on September 30, 2010 at 9:43 pm

    My wife recently found some Animal Crackers without HFCS, and she talked about them on her website: http://realsugarmama.com/?p=63

    Hope this helps!



  3. JOSH on December 17, 2015 at 11:29 am

    WE DEFINETLY NEED TO BECOME MORE AWARE OF WHAT OUR KIDS EAT I NEVER WOULD HAVE KNOWN THANK YOU



  4. JASON on December 17, 2015 at 11:30 am

    MY KID LOVES THEM BUT IS BECOME OVER WEIGHT I PACK THEM FOR HIS LUNCH ALOT



  5. JASON on December 17, 2015 at 11:30 am

    PLEASE EMAIL ME IF U HAVE ANY SOLUTION



  6. Karissa on March 9, 2016 at 3:54 pm

    I think it’s totally fine for a person or child to have a snack like animal crackers every once in awhile. Contrary to what was written I myself never was under the impression that they were healthy. They’re not advertised as being healthy.



  7. Adam on March 11, 2018 at 8:16 pm

    Actually animal crackers no longer carry high fructose corn syrup. It’s no longer listed as an ingredient. I’m an adult and I eat them!



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