Are Wheat Thins Healthy? Wheat Thins Original Nutrition Facts and Ingredients

Wheat Thins nutrition facts: are they healthy?

Here is one serving of 16 crackers (31 g), from the manufacturer's label as listed in the USDA branded foods database:

The fiber is real. Whole grain wheat flour is the first ingredient and the only flour on the list, so a serving gives 3 g of fiber, 9.7 g per 100 g. That is far more than refined-flour crackers such as Ritz, which have none.

Sugar is the catch. A serving has 5 g of sugar, 16.1 g per 100 g, and the 2023 USDA record for Wheat Thins Original lists 4 g of that as added sugar. For a savory cracker that is a lot: plain Triscuits have no sugar at all.

Sodium is 200 mg per serving, about 9% of the 2,300 mg daily value used on US labels, or 645 mg per 100 g. On our calculation the nutrition part of the score is Nutri-Score D, pulled down by the salt and sugar and helped by the fiber.

Wheat Thins ingredients

The 9.1 oz box of Wheat Thins Original lists 8 ingredients, in label order:

• Whole grain wheat flour. the main ingredient. This is what gives Wheat Thins their fiber.
• Canola oil. the fat in the cracker.
• Sugar. the first of three sweeteners, listed third, ahead of salt.
• Cornstarch. makes the crackers thin and crisp.
• Malt syrup (from corn and barley). a second sweetener that adds the toasted, slightly sweet taste.
• Salt..
• Refiner's syrup. a third sweetener, a sugar syrup.
• Leavening (calcium phosphate and baking soda). makes the crackers puff.

The older label adds "BHT added to packaging material to preserve freshness". BHT is in the bag lining, not in the cracker dough, and the 2023 USDA record no longer lists it. Reduced Fat, Hint of Salt and the flavored Wheat Thins have their own labels.

Are Wheat Thins ultra-processed?

No. Wheat Thins Original is a processed food, NOVA group 3. NOVA, the food-processing scale used in nutrition research, calls a food ultra-processed (group 4) when its label has substances rarely used in home kitchens, such as high fructose corn syrup, invert sugar, maltodextrin or dextrose, or additives used to make a product more appealing, such as flavors, colors and emulsifiers. Wheat Thins Original has none of them.

That puts it ahead of most crackers on the shelf. Ritz Original and Goldfish, for example, add flavors, emulsifiers or high fructose corn syrup and land in group 4. Wheat Thins is whole grain flour, oil, sugars, starch, salt and leavening.

The three additive codes on the record are the leavening agents (calcium phosphate and baking soda). None of them is one our method flags for published health evidence.

Why Wheat Thins score 51 out of 100

The Truvi score (our method) combines three parts of the label: processing, nutrition and how easy the food is to overeat. Wheat Thins do fine on the first, middling on the second and badly on the third.

• Processing. NOVA 3, processed but not ultra-processed, with only leavening agents as additives.
• Nutrition. Nutri-Score D on our calculation. The fiber helps; the sugar and salt per 100 g pull it down.
• Overeating. Wheat Thins meet the fat and sodium cluster of the hyper-palatable food definition by Fazzino and colleagues (2019): more than 25% of calories from fat and at least 0.3% sodium by weight. Wheat Thins have 32% of calories from fat and 645 mg of sodium per 100 g, and 4.5 calories per gram. Thin, salty and slightly sweet is an easy combination to keep eating.

So the practical answer: count out the 16 crackers instead of eating from the box, and pair them with protein such as cheese or hummus. If you buy crackers every week, Triscuit is the better everyday box: whole grain wheat, oil and salt, no sugar.

Crackers that score higher

These five score higher on the same scale. The Triscuits are the direct swap: whole grain wheat, no sugar, NOVA 3. The two oat products come from the wider biscuits category our database files Wheat Thins under; they are not crackers.

• 

  Weetabixfood Redy Brek

  A UK instant oat cereal, not a cracker. It is sold mainly in the UK, so it may be hard to find in US stores.

  NOVA 3 · Photo: fooducate.69C4FC37-729D-E99F-4C7E-8A2D263B82A4, CC BY-SA 3.0

  68Good

• 

  Nabisco-Triscuit Hint of Salt

  Triscuit Hint of Salt. Per 28 g serving: 120 calories, 3 g fiber, 3 g protein and no sugar. Three ingredients, and about a quarter of the sodium of Wheat Thins per serving.

  NOVA 3 · Reported at Walmart · Photo: macrofactor, CC BY-SA 3.0

  67Good

• 

  nabisco Triscuit Crackers Rye with Caraway Seed 1x8.5 Oz

  Triscuit Rye with Caraway Seed. Per 28 g serving: 120 calories, 4 g fiber and no sugar.

  NOVA 3 · Reported at Market Basket · Photo: cuisto, CC BY-SA 3.0

  62Good

• 

  Jack & the Beanstalk Quick Oats

  Plain quick oats, not a cracker. Per 40 g serving: 150 calories, 5 g protein, 4 g fiber and no sugar.

  NOVA 3 · Photo: fooducate.693C4EFC-9F3E-1C7B-43A4-8D4B390EBA66, CC BY-SA 3.0

  66Good

• 

  triscuit Reduced Fat Triscuit

  Reduced Fat Triscuit. Per 28 g serving: 110 calories, 4 g fiber and no sugar.

  NOVA 3 · Photo: smoothie-app, CC BY-SA 3.0

  65Good

Full ingredient list and nutrition

Whole grain wheat flour, canola oil, sugar, cornstarch, malt syrup (from corn and barley), salt, refiner's syrup, leavening (calcium phosphate and baking soda). bht added to packaging material to preserve freshness.

Questions people ask