According to the website, ideafinder.com, we consume more than 4.3 billion lb. of snack food a year, which could be why snacks may soon end up becoming America’s favorite meal. What an interesting time for Snack Food & Wholesale Bakery to celebrate its centennial anniversary. Coincidentally, the Snack Food Association (SFA), Arlington, Va., an international association that has manufacturing members, including snack manufacturers and suppliers to the snack industry in more than 50 countries around the world, is celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2012. We congratulate the SFA on an incredible job.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report in February that reconfirms what most adults already know: A majority of Americans consume too much sodium. Too much sodium can increase the risk of high blood pressure, which often leads to heart disease and strokes. Processed and restaurant-prepared foods contain the most sodium of the foods people eat.

Consumers are asking for a lot of bars these days. Some want bars to be a healthy, easy snack, while others demand that their bars act as a supplement to an active lifestyle. Many prefer a bar that can substitute for a meal or act as a diet aid. Either way, bar manufacturers are making products that satisfy all of these requirements, so it’s just a matter of picking which bar is right for the job.

PepsiCo's Frito-Lay North America division expand its Smartfood brand to include popped chips, popcorn, and puffed corn under the Smartfood Selects name. To encourage interest at stores, each package features nutrition icons on the front that highlight calories per serving, saturated fat, sodium and sugar.

A comprehensive, global report from Global Industry Analysts, Inc., indicates that the global snack foods market is poised to reach $380 billion by 2017, driven mostly by changing consumer demographics and affluence levels.

For Planters peanuts, sustainability has been a core part of the business for some time. To reduce its impact on the environment through packaging changes, the brand looks to a new plastic container to further its heritage of sustainability.

A report on the hot trends this year in the CPG industry indicates that shoppers will keep defining value based on price. Some will open their wallets more if positive economic reports continue. But manufacturers and retailers could pass more manufacturing price increases onto shoppers because they’re running out of cost-cutting efficiencies and are sensing shoppers’ ability to pay more money. Private-label will continue to account for unit sales in the 22-23% range and dollar sales in the 18-20% range.

The fast-food giant is launching a fresh pastry line in New England, on Dunkin’ Donuts’ home turf. Its New England-based restaurants will carry baked goods such as cheese Danish, two kinds of muffins, banana bread and vanilla scones.

Once an evening or afternoon treat, snacks move into the morning hours as the role breakfast plays changes and is being stretched out over the course of the morning.

It’s already three months in to 2012, which means some of those New Year’s Resolutioners have already caved back into their old ways. The gym is less crowded, and diet plans are already becoming “so last year.”