Eight in ten Brits have no idea how many calories their favourite snacks contain – from a banana or a bag of nuts, to a packet of crisps. Research of 2,000 adults revealed almost a quarter (23 percent) cite snack time as one of their favourite moments of the day, with nine percent even claiming to spend hours thinking about their snack choices.

Nearly a fifth (18 percent) also claim to feel like they’re winning when they find out a snack they’ve eaten contains less calories than they thought.

However the research, commissioned by Walkers, also revealed that only a quarter (24 percent) were aware how many calories are in a banana, or a handful (30g) of nuts.

And just one in five people (21 percent) know how many calories are in a small bag (30g) of popcorn.

It also emerged just two percent claim not to snack at all, while the average UK adult consumes up to two snacks a day – with over a third (35 percent) consuming three or more.

Yet snacking habits are changing, with 40 percent claiming to have switched to buying snacks or crisps containing 100 calories or less – and one in 10 citing “double-digit calories” as their key snacking criteria.

Meanwhile, 97 percent of Brits class themselves as “crisp eaters” – with almost half (46 percent) enjoying a packet at least a few times each week, while 14 percent of people eat them daily.

But just one in 10 (11 percent) are aware there are 100 calories, or less, in a multipack bag of Wotsits or Monster Munch.

Josephine Taylor, at Walkers, said: “We know how a good snack can make or break someone’s day.

“We’re always striving to provide extensive choice when it comes to snacks, to make sure we’re meeting the nation’s snacking needs. Hopefully, this knowledge will be seen as good news for UK crisp lovers.”

According to the snack brand’s data, chocolate (19 percent) and crisps (17 percent) are the nation’s all-time favourite snacks, followed by fruit (eight percent) and cake (seven percent).

And between 3pm and 4pm is considered the optimum time to tuck into a snack, according to 24 percent of Brits.

But when it comes to choosing lunch-time snacks, crisps were the nation’s top choice, with 46 percent choosing them as their lunch snack of choice – followed by fruit (39 percent) and chocolate (22 percent).

Aside from double-digit calories, other top snacking criteria include items that are tasty (64 percent), affordable (36 percent), require zero preparation (21 percent), and don’t smell or offend those around them (eight percent).

Meanwhile, one in five (18 percent) claim snacks must be crunchy, while others seek out snacks that are salty (17 percent) or sweet (13 percent).

If forced to opt for something that doesn’t meet their snacking criteria, 18 percent feel like they need another, better snack to make up for it – while others claim to feel upset at the wasted snacking opportunity (10 percent).

Almost half the nation (43 percent) claim to feel “satisfied” with themselves after a good snack, while others claim to feel a sense of achievement (four percent).

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