9 new better-for-you products to avoid #JunkFoodDay

Delicately dark-chocolate coated almonds dusted with cocoa powder, espresso beans and a touch of organic maple syrup and sea salt. Each 230-calorie pack offers 7 grams protein and just 6 grams sugar. Learn more about Wild Things  

Forget the saccharine exercise-angled gels or gummies packed with quick-burning glucose. These squeezable packs from Fuel For Fire can easily fit into the back pocket of your bike jersey for fast, accessible nutrition. Each packet contains pureed fruit and/or veggies and whey protein isolate, which allows the protein content to rise to 10 grams per packet. Developed by CrossFit enthusiasts. Learn more about Fuel for Fire

Ditch the salt-and-vinegar fried chips and choose instead these salted fava beans, which deliver 6 grams of protein per serving. Addictive and tangy, these flavorful bean snacks are a better-for-you option when seeking something crunchy and savory. Also try the fantastic Ranch flavor. Learn more about World Peas

Each individually wrapped caramel is a dairy-free, USDA Organic morsel packed with flavorful ingredients like coconut milk, brown rice syrup and vanilla extract. Here we debut JJ’s Sweets’ new flavors, which include the spicy Mexican Hot Chocolate, Harvest Spice and, our favorite, Coconut Palm Sugar, which swaps organic palm coconut sugar for dried cane syrup. Also gluten free. One caveat: When I sampled these flavors, the caramels were a little difficult to get off the wrapper—try storing them at a slightly cooler temperature to allow easy removal. Learn more about JJ's Cocomels

These baked crunchy pea snacks are a healthier puff than the ubiquitous, nutritionally empty cheese puff. Peas Please are made with just four ingredients: organic whole green pea flour, organic brown rice flour, organic sunflower oil and sea salt. That’s it! Such wholesome ingredients allow these snacks to deliver 5 grams of protein, 4 grams of dietary fiber and 1/2 cup of veggies per each 28-gram serving. Learn more about Peeled Snacks

Rich, ricotta cheese gets a dairy-free makeover with Kite Hill’s zero-cholesterol substitution. Made just with almond milk, salt, enzymes and cultures, this subtly sweet, slightly salty “cheese” can be used in recipes like homemade ravioli or even as a mascarpone swap (I would love to try an almond-milk cannoli!). Or eat it like I did, with cucumber slices and a touch of salt. Learn more about Kite Hill

July 21 was National Junk Food Day, a psuedo-holiday that celebrates the addictive food often found at conventional groceries or fast food restaurants. (Ahem, a pizza with a pigs-in-a-blanket crust?) Sate your customers' pining for something sweet and salty (and save them from Doritos!) with these natural snack and candy alternatives—all of which deliver better-for-you ingredients free from artificial anything. Want your product reviewed on Unboxed? Message editor @JennaBlumenfeld on Twitter!

New from Patagonia comes a line of fruit and nut bars, including this 120-calorie, USDA Organic Apricot + Almond Bar with Baobab + Chia. Sweetened just with apple juice concentrate, this clean-label nutrition bar is a handy way to introduce consumers to a superfruit they normally wouldn’t try, like baobab. Plus, each bar delivers 4 grams of dietary fiber and 3 grams of good fat. Learn more about Patagonia Provisions

Ditch the Starbursts and reach instead for Torie & Howard’s newest offering. Per the name, they’re chewy, they’re fruity and they deliver 100 percent your daily value of vitamin C per serving (7 pieces). Entirely USDA Organic, these candies are made with brown rice syrup, dried cane syrup, palm shortening and more, and are tinted with beetroot juice and turmeric. Yum! Learn more about Torie & Howard

The newest from nut butter aficionado Justin’s, this 200-calorie snack pack is ideal for stuffing into lunch boxes, backpacks and even desks for a quick, tasty snack. Certified Gluten-Free pretzels are paired with signature almond, maple almond chocolate hazelnut butter. We love how Justin’s partnered with sustainable packaging company Placon to create a plastic tray made entirely out of post-consumer PET plastics (mostly recycled beverage bottles). Grab-and-go peanut butter packs aren’t groundbreaking—several brands (like Jif) already have such SKUs. But Justin’s does this concept consciously and well.    Learn more about Justin's

The newest from nut butter aficionado Justin’s, this 200-calorie snack pack is ideal for stuffing into lunch boxes, backpacks and even desks for a quick, tasty snack. Certified Gluten-Free pretzels are paired with signature almond, maple almond chocolate hazelnut butter. We love how Justin’s partnered with sustainable packaging company Placon to create a plastic tray made entirely out of post-consumer PET plastics (mostly recycled beverage bottles). Grab-and-go peanut butter packs aren’t groundbreaking—several brands (like Jif) already have such SKUs. But Justin’s does this concept consciously and well.    Learn more about Justin's