Snacks are foods that are not included in the main daily meals but, in recent decades, they have been displacing some of the main meals. Some snacks have been considered as highly processed foods with high-density energy with low nutritional value. Fortunately, this vision of snacks has been changing. The objective of this work was to study snack consumption and also analyze which consumers' preferences are considered as healthy in snacks and meat snacks.

An online survey was conducted with 234 consumers (Spain, Colombia, Ecuador, and Mexico) where they were asked about which type of snacks they consumed, the main characteristics that they look for in these types of foods, and what they consider a healthy snack should have. Regarding meat snacks, they were asked about the type of meat snack consumed and the characteristics of these types of snacks, and which features they considered to be an ideal healthy meat snack.

The results show that the most consumed snacks are fruits (67.9%), dairy (53.8%), nuts or seeds (53%), cookies (31.2%), meat snacks (28, 6%), pastry products (27.4%), vegetables and chocolate (25.2%), sandwiches (20.5%), popcorn and chips (19.7%) and cereal bars (13.7%). The most important characteristics that consumers look for in these products are: (i) do not require preparation; (ii) can be consumed anywhere, and (iii) can be consumed at any time, all of them included in the comfort dimension. When the consumers were asked about aspects related to health, consumer answered: (a) made with ingredients that improve health (30.2%); (b) low sugar levels (27.4%); (c) low-fat content (12.8%); (d) high content of vitamins and minerals (7.7%); (d) high protein content (7.2%) and (e) high fiber content (6.4%). The most consumed meat snacks are dehydrated (cured and uncured) meat products such as ham, loin, jerky, etc. (53.8%), cooked sausages (39.7%), dry-cured meat (fuet, chorizo, etc..) (31.2%), nuggets (25.2%) and meat sticks (14.5%). Regarding healthy aspects, the most valued properties were: high protein content and low salt content.

Snack consumption viewed under healthy and comfort characteristics determines which type of snacks are purchased. The high protein content of dehydrated meat snacks is the main aspect considered by consumers, as healthy.