A collective term for small sweet snacks produced in industrial quantities and typically wrapped in ubiquitous plastic.

You can find out all about them at the site www.merendineitaliane.it

All that plastic and all that sugar may give merendine a bad name, but the site highlights their nutritional value following research by F.O.S.A.N. (Fondazione per lo studio degli alimenti e della nutrizione) who studied the eating habits of 1000 boys and girls aged 6 to 15.

Not only sweet but savoury snacks such as pizza and focaccia.

The research found that there was no significant dietary difference between scoffing merendine compared to more traditional breakfast or snack food.

Indeed, the higher calories contained in such foods seemed to be better for growing kids.

Certainly if if consumed as part of a varied daily diet and along with regular physical exercise.

The research points out that kids should get out to play rather than ‘spending a whole afternoon in front of the television’.

The latter location, we add, where the industrial giants tend to advertise relentlessly such products – but only to influence parental brand choice of course.

Anyway, merendine are delicious and we eat them all the time.