ABSTRACT
Snack foods have always been an important part of American life, and as such they represent a diverse and continually changing group of food items whose sales are in the billions of dollars and are continually climbing (Table 1). An overview as to some of the types, and their market share, is summarized in Table 2. Based on the above figures, the United States is the leading worldwide producer and consumer of snack foods, an honor that some individuals would not like to claim. Other major international snack food markets include the NAFTA countries and Western Europe, as can be seen from the data shown in Table 3. However, from a relative standpoint, the dollar value associated with U.S. snack food exports is somewhat small compared to the total market in the United States (Tables 4, 5).
