9 Packaged Foods That Are Way Unhealthier Than You Thought (Slideshow)
Granola bars sound healthy — after all, health nuts are always munching on granola as a healthy snack full of oats and fiber. But most granola bars are actually loaded up with sugar and chocolate. Quaker Oats Chewy Granola Bars are tiny, but just one Peanut Almond and Dark Chocolate one sets you back 205 calories, and you'll get 19 percent of your saturated fat for the day. We recommend grabbing some raw granola instead — though even that can be surprisingly high in calories.
Stacy's Pita Chips
Pita chips are every chip-lover's dream. They provide just as much satisfying crunch without all of the grease of potato chips. But guess what? A bag of Lay's potato chips actually has less — 130 grams less — sodium than a bag of pita chips of roughly the same size.
Ocean Spray Craisins
We tend to love Craisins and dried fruit because they taste like candy but are actually made from fruit! Here's a hint: if something tastes like candy, it's not a good sign. Just ¼ of a cup of Craisins contains 29 grams of sugar, which is already over the daily recommended limit.
Orville Redenbacher Microwave Popcorn
Popcorn has always been touted as a healthy snack food, but in actuality, the popcorn that's not too bad for you (whole-grain, no butter, and minimal salt) tastes pretty plain, so we tend buy the butter version. Just four cups of the Orville Redenbacher Regular Butter popcorn contains 30 percent of your saturated fat for the day.
Campbell’s Chicken Noodle Soup
Don't you feel like you made a healthier choice when you have soup for lunch instead of a sandwich loaded with carbs? Well even though a cup of soup feels like a light lunch, you're actually taking in 37 percent of your sodium for the day when you slurp some Campbell's.
Chobani Greek Yogurt
It's true that plain, low- or non-fat Greek yogurt is filling, full of nutrients, and can be a great way to start the day, but it gets complicated when you buy the kind with fruit on the bottom. The fruit is usually processed, doused in sweet syrup, and in the case of fruit-flavored Chobani Low-Fat Greek Yogurt's, loaded with 15 to 17 grams of sugar.
Kashi Cereal
Kashi Mountain Medley has 220 calories and 12 grams of sugar per serving, and while that might not sound too bad, remember that the name Kashi is supposed to be synonymous with healthy and wholesome. You'd be better of eating Alpha-Bits cereal with only 10 grams of sugar.
Healthy Choice Frozen Food
It says "Healthy Choice" (or Go Lean, or Weight Watchers) on it so it must be healthy, right? Unfortunately, these frozen diet dinners are usually loaded up with fat and sodium, like the Healthy Choice Country Glazed Chicken, which delivers 600 mg of sodium.
Oikos Frozen Greek Yogurt
Frozen yogurt is the "healthier" alternative to ice cream, so frozen Greek yogurt should be even better for you, right? One serving of plain Oikos frozen Greek yogurt (½ cup only, you ice cream-lovers!) contains 19 grams of sugar, and the chocolate variety has 21 grams of sugar.