Most people believe they’re a better-for-you alternative to traditional cheese crackers, but are Annie’s Cheddar Bunnies healthy for you? Our expert dietitian reviews the nutrition facts and ingredients to help you make an educated decision at the grocery store.
About Annie’s Cheddar Bunnies
Annie’s Cheddar Bunnies are baked cheese-flavored crackers with 95% organic ingredients. They are promoted as free from artificial flavors, colors, and preservatives.
Annie’s Cheddar Bunnies Ingredients
Note: the formulation of food products can change. Always check the nutrition label for the most up-to-date ingredient, nutrition, and allergen information before consuming.
Organic wheat flour: refined wheat (white) flour made from organic wheat.
Organic expeller-pressed sunflower oil: sunflower seeds are pressed through a cavity to express oil. This method is generally free from chemical solvents used in traditional vegetable oil extraction. Sunflower oil is a rich source of oleic acid (omega-9).
Salt: added source of sodium used for flavoring and preserving.
Organic cheddar cheese: organic pasteurized milk, bacterial cultures, salt, non-animal microbial enzymes)
Organic yeast: reacts with sugar and flour in baked dough to build elasticity and help dough rise.
Organic skim milk: used as a liquid in the cracker dough.
Organic paprika: spice used for flavoring and color.
Monocalcium phosphate: leavening agent.
Baking soda: leavening agent.
Organic onion powder: spice used for flavoring.
Organic cane sugar: a source of sugar used for flavoring and to react with yeast in cracker dough.
Organic annatto: used as a source of natural color.
Organic celery seed powder: spice used for flavoring.
Enzymes: added to improve the taste and texture of the crackers.
Annie’s Cheddar Bunnies Nutrition Facts
Calories: 140 per 30g serving (55 crackers). Note: 30g is a standard serving size for crackers.
Fat: 6g, coming from sunflower oil and cheese.
Saturated fat: 1g, coming from cheese.
Carbohydrates: 18g, coming from organic refined flour.
Fibre: 1g, coming from flour.
Sugar: <0.5g, coming from cane sugar.
Protein: 3g, coming from flour and cheese.
Cholesterol: 0mg
Sodium: 260mg, coming from added salt.
Other nutrients: 30mg potassium, 20mg calcium, 1.75mg iron
Are Annie’s Cheddar Bunnies Healthy?
We gave Annie’s Cheddar Bunnies a nutrition score of 64 out of 100. I love that these crackers are a source of monounsaturated fats from expeller-pressed sunflower oil. They are also made without artificial flavours, or colors, and use minimal additives and preservatives. However, the main ingredient in Annie’s Cheddar Bunners is white flour, resulting in low-fiber crackers.
Ideally, most of our everyday carbohydrates should come from less processed whole grains, legumes, and fruit which provide a source of fibre, in addition to many other nutrients. By choosing a low-fiber cracker option, you’re missing out on an important opportunity to increase your fiber intake. Low-fiber crackers also digest faster than crackers made with whole grains and seeds, meaning they won’t keep you full as long.
Overall, we suggest enjoying Annie’s Cheddar bunnies on an occasional basis and opting for a higher fiber cracker for regular use.