Move Over, Yogurt—This New Snack Is Perfect for Lunch Boxes

Robyn O’Brien used to feed her kids squeezable yogurt and fluorescent-orange macaroni and cheese daily—until the morning her daughter was rushed to the hospital with an allergic reaction to a chemical-laced breakfast of scrambled eggs, Eggo waffles, and unnaturally blue yogurt. Since, O’Brien has become a leading advocate for healthy food, sharing her story and gaining acclaim through a famous TEDx talk.

And parents are listening to O’Brien’s story. As childhood allergies reach an all-time high—nearly six million children in the U.S. have a food-related allergy—adults are left searching for answers to why more and more kids have potentially fatal reactions to milk, nuts, wheat, and other foods.

O’Brien believes that the GMOs, additives, and artificial dyes in processed food are messing with our auto-immune systems, and she’s not alone. While there’s not enough research to blame food intolerances on modified food, there is significant evidence that additives in processed food can cause some pretty serious allergic reactions. If the threat of anaphylactic shock isn’t enough to encourage you to avoid food additives, the endocrine-disrupting chemicals found in processed food might; they’ve been linked to decreased immune function, brain damage, weight gain, and increased risk of cancer.

But no matter how many parents become informed about making healthier choices and food additives, there’s one audience that still needs to be convinced: kids.

These tough little critics are brutally honest and incredibly picky about food. Swapping out their squeezable, high fructose corn syrup–laced yogurt for raw fruit just isn’t going to happen. That’s why we’re fans of Ruby Rocket’s squeezable, portable snacks made from 100% real fruit and veggies.

Don’t let the packaging fool you. These fruity, shelf-stable snacks look like squeezable yogurt, they’re essentially purees without one iota of dairy. In addition to being totally vegan, they’re free of added sugars and get a protein boost from pea powder.

More importantly, kids will actually eat Ruby Rocket’s. According to our 10-year-old taste tester Cole Dickey, they taste “like a drinkable fruit roll-up.” Parents, take note.

Photo credit: Paul Delmont