everykind

Fried snacks: what we know and what we don't

· 3 min read

Banana chips, murukku, mixture, sev. Fried snacks are part of everyday Indian life, and we list a lot of them. We also tag them "Fried." Here's why, and what the evidence does and doesn't say.

The calories are the simplest part

Frying adds a lot of oil. The fried snacks in our catalog run about 500–540 kcal per 100 g, roughly double a plain roasted makhana. That's not a reason to avoid them. It's a reason to eat them by the handful, not the pack.

What long-term studies show

A 2021 review of 17 studies covering over half a million people found that those who ate the most fried food had more heart and blood vessel problems than those who ate the least. It found no link with deaths from those causes, or from any cause.

These studies are observational, so they can't fully separate the frying from everything else in a fried-food-heavy diet. Most were done in Western countries, where "fried food" often means fast food. A Spanish study of people who fried at home in olive or sunflower oil found no link with heart disease. How you fry, what you fry and how often seem to matter.

Acrylamide

When starchy foods such as potatoes and bananas are fried, baked or roasted at high heat, a compound called acrylamide forms. EFSA considers it a public health concern, based mainly on animal studies. Human studies so far haven't shown a clear effect at normal diets. Golden is better than dark brown: lighter frying forms less of it.

Does the oil matter?

In two ways:

  • What kind of fat. Coconut oil and ghee are mostly saturated fat. Groundnut and sesame oil are mostly unsaturated. Guidelines from the WHO and ICMR favour unsaturated fats.
  • How often it's reused. Oil that's been reheated again and again breaks down. India caps how degraded frying oil can get and runs a used-oil collection programme. Most of the evidence about reused oil comes from animal studies, but fresh oil is simply good practice.

A named oil on the pack doesn't make a snack less fried. It does mean you know what you're eating.

Practical ways to enjoy them

  • Pour a portion into a bowl instead of eating from the pack.
  • Pair a fried snack with something fresh, such as fruit, cucumber or a handful of roasted chana.
  • Prefer lighter golden chips over very dark ones.

What ICMR says

India's 2024 dietary guidelines suggest limiting deep-fried and salty snacks and keeping them occasional rather than daily.

How Everykind handles it

  • Fried snacks get an amber "Fried" tag.
  • We look for snacks that name their oil.
  • If most of the fat is saturated, the snack also gets "Mostly saturated fat."
  • Where we know the sodium, we also tell you if it's high in salt.

Fried snacks can be part of a good week. We'd just like the tag to help you decide how often.

Sources

This is a summary of published research, not medical advice. Related tags on our standard: Fried.