Cheese crackers: salty, and the label nudges you to serve more

In a randomized lab experiment in 60 US adults, people shown the larger serving sizes from the then proposed Nutrition Facts label served 27 percent more cheese crackers to another person, in one session where nobody measured what was eaten. Across the same set of studies, over 78 percent wrongly read serving size as how much one should eat. The salt is the part to watch. The USDA reference record for regular cheese crackers lists 973 mg sodium per 3.5 oz (100 g), and nine USDA cheese cracker records range from 458 to 1167 mg. That record has no spread across samples, and brands differ. A small or medium single-serving bag weighs 1.6 oz (45 g) in the US food survey, so at the reference value one bag carries about 440 mg sodium. We found no trial that fed people cheese crackers and measured their health. The cracker trials below used crackers made for the study, mostly without cheese.

The numbers, per 3.5 oz (100 g)

As people eat it, per 3.5 oz (100 g)

How much is actually in it

• Regular cheese crackers contain 973 mg sodium per 3.5 oz (100 g), with 458 to 1167 mg across nine USDA cheese cracker records. — USDA reference food Crackers, cheese, regular (FDC 174975) Evidence E source
  973 mg sodium per 3.5 oz (100 g); range 458-1167 mg over 9 records; folate 241 mcg per 3.5 oz (100 g) (enriched flour)

What a real portion looks like

• In a randomized crossover trial, flat square crackers led people to eat 15% more cheese dip than finger-shaped crackers, while cracker intake itself did not change. — 44 young adults, four late afternoon snack sessions (n = 44) Evidence B source
  Cheese intake +15% (131 kJ, P = 0.016) with flat-square vs finger-shape crackers; cracker intake about 28 crackers in both
• A typical single-serving bag of cheese crackers weighs 1.6 oz (45 g), a 100 calorie pack 21 g, and one small cracker about 1 g. — US food survey portion weights, FNDDS code 54304000 Crackers, cheese Evidence E source
  Small or medium bag 45 g; large bag 85 g; 100 calorie package 21 g; 1 cup 50 g; 1 small square cracker 1 g

What your body absorbs

• In a randomized crossover trial, a cracker made with conventional flour had a glycemic index of 90, a 30% whole wheat cracker 77, and a 30% sunflower seed flour cracker 53. — 11 healthy adults, mean age 23.5 years, 50 g available carbohydrate per test (n = 11) Evidence B source
  GI 90 (conventional flour) vs 77 (30% whole wheat) vs 53 (30% sunflower seed flour)
• In a randomized crossover trial, whole-wheat crackers had a glycemic index of 78 and barley beta-glucan crackers 49, against white bread as reference. — 10 healthy volunteers, single breakfast tests with 40 g available carbohydrate (n = 10) Evidence B source
  GI 78 (whole-wheat crackers) vs 49 (barley crackers)

What cooking and storage change

• According to FDA guidance, replacing ammonium bicarbonate leavening in cookies and crackers is an established industrial way to cut acrylamide formed during baking. — commercially baked cookies and crackers Evidence E source
  Qualitative mitigation, no size for crackers given

What it does to your health

• In a 70-day double-blind randomized trial, a daily 2.4 oz (67.5 g) serving of PUFA-enriched crackers did not reduce waist circumference in adults with overweight, though both crackers increased satiety. — 25 adults with overweight and abdominal adiposity, afternoon snack daily for 70 days (n = 25) Evidence B source
  No reduction in waist circumference; no change in cholesterol or triglycerides
• In a lab experiment, people who tasted a cheese cracker during a chocolate snack ate more chocolate (94 g) than those who tasted only chocolate (68 g). — 47 adults (31 female), single lab snack session (n = 47) Evidence C source
  94 +/- 9.3 g vs 68 +/- 9.5 g chocolate eaten

Safety, limits and interactions

• In a cluster randomized trial in pregnant women in Indonesia, micronutrient-enriched crackers did not improve infant growth, and women ate only 2.5-3.6 oz (72-103 g) a week of the 525 g recommended. — pregnant women aged 19-35 in 28 villages, 137 mother-infant dyads per group, through five months postpartum (n = 274) Evidence B source
  No significant effect on growth; maternal Hb 12.0 vs 12.3 g/dL

What people believe that the data does not support

• In a randomized experiment, people shown the larger serving sizes of the proposed Nutrition Facts label served 27% more cheese crackers to another person, and over 78% wrongly read serving size as how much one should eat. — US adults in four lab studies (study 1 N = 101, study 3 N = 60) (n = 60) Evidence B source
  +27% cheese crackers served to another person with proposed vs current label
• In a Canadian label survey that included 1063 salty snacks and crackers, 74.2% of products carried a nutrition or health claim and 28.9% carried one while qualifying for a high sodium, sugar or saturated fat warning. — 2937 prepackaged foods in Quebec, 2018-2022, incl. 1063 salty snacks and crackers (n = 2937) Evidence C source
  74.2% with a claim; 28.9% with a claim and a required warning symbol

Who this works differently for

• In a 12-week randomized placebo-controlled pilot trial in adults aged 65 and over, crackers made with camelina oil raised serum alpha-linolenic acid without significant changes in lipids or inflammatory markers. — 66 free-living adults aged 65 or older, 35 g crackers twice daily for 12 weeks (n = 66) Evidence B source
  Serum ALA significantly higher vs placebo (p<0.01); no significant lipid or inflammatory change

The bottom line

Flour decides most of the blood sugar response. In a crossover trial in 11 healthy young adults, a cracker of conventional flour had a glycemic index of 90, a 30 percent whole wheat cracker 77, and a 30 percent sunflower seed flour cracker 53. All three were made for the test and had no cheese. In 10 healthy volunteers on the white bread scale, whole-wheat crackers scored 78 and barley beta-glucan crackers 49. Shape changes what goes on top. In 44 young adults, flat square crackers led people to eat 15 percent more cheese dip than finger-shaped ones, while the number of crackers stayed at about 28. In a lab session that was not described as randomized, 47 adults who tasted a cheese cracker during a chocolate snack then ate 3.3 oz (94 g) of chocolate against 68 g in those who tasted only chocolate. Crackers used as a carrier for added fats did little measurable. Over 70 days, 67.5 g a day of PUFA-enriched crackers did not reduce waist circumference in 25 adults with overweight, compared with a standard cracker, with no group that ate no crackers. In 66 adults aged 65 or older, crackers with camelina oil raised blood alpha-linolenic acid over 12 weeks with no significant change in lipids, and 50 finished the pilot. A Quebec label survey of 2937 packaged foods, 1063 of them salty snacks and crackers, found that 74.2 percent carried a nutrition or health claim. The share was counted across all five food groups, with no separate figure for crackers. FDA guidance names replacing ammonium bicarbonate leavening as an industrial way to cut acrylamide in baked crackers, with no size given for crackers. We hold no card on allergy, children or kidney disease for cheese crackers, and the absence is a gap in the data. The one card about pregnancy concerns enriched crackers. In a cluster randomized trial in Indonesian villages with 274 mother and infant pairs, micronutrient crackers did not improve infant growth, and women ate only 2.5 to 3.6 oz (72 to 103 g) a week of the 525 g advised, which limits what the trial can show.

Sources

1. ccrk-daily-r8-11 · reference dataset
   SR Legacy FDC 174975 Crackers, cheese, regular: Sodium 973 mg/100 g · Folate 241 mcg/100 g · 9 cheese cracker records: sodium 458-1167 mg/100 g
   USDA SR Legacy 2018, FDC 174975 Crackers, cheese, regular · checked 2026-10-01
2. ccrk-daily-r8-02 · randomized crossover trial
   Cracker intake (28 (sem 1) crackers) of cracker-cheese combinations was not influenced by cracker shape. Cheese intake of cracker-cheese combinations was 15 % higher for flat-squared than finger-shape crackers (131 kJ, P = 0·016)
   Br J Nutr, 2020 · checked 2026-10-01
3. ccrk-daily-r8-12 · reference dataset
   FNDDS 2708150 Crackers, cheese (54304000): 1 small or medium single serving bag 45 g · 1 large single serving bag 85 g · 1 100 calorie package 21 g · 1 cup, NFS 50 g · 1 small square cracker 1 g
   USDA FNDDS 2021-2023, food code 54304000 (FDC 2708150) · checked 2026-10-01
4. ccrk-daily-r8-03 · randomized crossover trial
   The SFC crackers provided low GI and GL values (GI: 53 on the glucose scale, GL: 6 per serving), whereas the WWC and CC crackers provided high GI (GI: 77 and 90 on the glucose scale, respectively)
   Eur J Clin Nutr, 2024 · checked 2026-10-01
5. ccrk-daily-r8-04 · randomized crossover trial
   Individual GI values were 78, 81, 49 and 34 for whole-wheat crackers (WWCr), whole-wheat cookies (WWc), barley crackers (BCr) and barley cookies (Bc) respectively.
   J Am Coll Nutr, 2006 · checked 2026-10-01
6. ccrk-daily-r8-10 · agency guidance
   Replacement of ammonium bicarbonate in baked goods such as cookies and crackers with alternative leavening agents is a successful, industrially proven mitigation technique
   FDA, Guidance for Industry: Acrylamide in Foods, 2016 · checked 2026-10-01
7. ccrk-daily-r8-06 · randomized trial
   Each group consumed a serving of the respective crackers (± 67.5 g) as an afternoon snack every day for 70 days ... However, the primary endpoint was not met as there was no reduction in waist circumference.
   Clin Nutr ESPEN, 2026 · checked 2026-10-01
8. ccrk-daily-r8-08 · controlled lab experiment
   FD (94 +/- 9.3 g) participants ate significantly more than FF (68 +/- 9.5 g)
   Physiol Behav, 2006 · checked 2026-10-01
9. ccrk-daily-r8-07 · cluster randomized trial
   Intervention adherence was low (72-103 gr/week) compared to 525 gr/week (75 gr/day) recommended, with no significant intervention effect on growth outcomes
   BMC Pregnancy Childbirth, 2025 · checked 2026-10-01
10. ccrk-daily-r8-01 · randomized trial
    the majority of participants (over 78%) incorrectly believed that the serving sizes refer to how much food can or should be consumed in one sitting as part of a healthy diet ... serve 27% more cheese crackers to another person (study 3)
    Appetite, 2015 · checked 2026-10-01
11. ccrk-daily-r8-09 · cross-sectional study
    salty snacks and crackers (n 1063) ... Overall, 74·2 % of food products had an NHC and 28·9 % had an NHC and would require to display the FOP symbol.
    Public Health Nutr, 2026 · checked 2026-10-01
12. ccrk-daily-r8-05 · randomized trial
    Subjects consumed daily 35 g of crackers (Camelina enriched crackers or placebo ones) twice daily for 12 weeks ... CONCLUSION: Camelina oil significantly elevated the serum alpha-linolenic acid concentration with no significant changes in inflammatory markers and lipid profile.
    J Nutr Health Aging, 2023 · checked 2026-10-01