[Food Faceoff] Classic Cracker Wars – Triscuits vs. Wheat Thins vs. Ritz vs. Wheatables

For some reason, crackers have a healthy-ish perception; likely because they’re juxtaposed against cookies, desserts, and other hyper-processed food in the same supermarket aisle. When you’re sitting side-by-side Oreos, Nutter Butters, Chips Ahoy, et al. it’s basically a lay-up to come off as overwhelmingly healthy. They’re the default go-to when gluttony spills over-the-top.

Even though crackers have less sugar and fat than cookies, the blunt reality is that the cracker “category” is A) processed and loaded with unhealthy ingredients, and B) highly variable from a health perspective. There’s room for improvement.

Take four classic staples — Wheat Thins, Triscuits, Wheatables, and Ritz — line them up, and a clear nutritional hierarchy emerges. Only one belongs in your body, and two can be extremely destructive; let’s have a food faceoff, classic cracker style.
 

Food Faceoff — Triscuits vs. Wheat Thins vs. Ritz vs. Wheatables¹²³⁴

The Winner — Triscuits.

Triscuits are the clear-cut winner. It’s frankly not even close.

With 3 g of fiber and protein, no sugar, minimal sodium, and only 3 ingredients — the primary of which is whole wheat — they’re a clean, respectable snack. While there are individual issues with soybean and palm oil, and I’d rather see EVOO, the ingredient profile is about as clean as you’ll get out of a processed food.

The Cracker Barrel rolls out of control quickly, though. Ritz and Wheatables are made from about 27365982 ingredients, HFCS, and contain nasty trans fats (in the form of partially hydrogenated oils) that’ll wreck your body. Both are HUGE no-no’s that should be avoided altogether.

Wheat Thins won’t kill you on occasion, but the added sugar, elevated sodium, and processed soy-based ingredients will cause damage in excess. They’re the prototypical processed food.

My recommendation: If you need a viable cheese raft or quick-fix for bruschetta, go with Triscuits, but freshly baked bread is ALWAYS a better option — it’s made with whole, natural ingredients, and doesn’t have any added sugars or processed oils to prolong shelf life.

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References, Notes, Links

1. Ritz Nutrition Facts [↩]
2. Wheat Thins Nutrition Facts [↩]
3. Wheatables Nutrition Facts [↩]
4. Triscuits Nutrition Facts [↩]

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Bryan DiSanto

Owner & Editor-in-Chief at Lean It UP

Bryan DiSanto is the Owner & Editor-in-Chief of Lean It UP, a culinary student at Le Cordon Bleu – Paris, an ACE-CPT & CSN, NYU graduate, ex-fat kid, and all-around fitness/nutrition nutjob.

He also contributes to Men's Health Magazine.

When he’s not working on his (or somebody else’s) abs, whipping up Eggocados, or running a Tough Mudder, he’s probably off yelling at a Carolina Panthers game somewhere.

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