Perishables such as fresh fruit, raw vegetables and nuts and seeds top the list of snacks with a high association among consumers for being healthy, found research published recently by the Chicago-based Mintel International Group Ltd.

But consumers who consider themselves health-conscious snackers say it can be tough to make the right choices compared to grabbing other less healthy, but more accessible foods, according to the Mintel study. This suggests there’s ample need for healthy snack innovation to meet the health demands of a large constituent of consumers, Mintel says. There’s also an opportunity for marketers of healthy, perishable snacks to leverage these connections to maximize health positioning.

Some 44 percent of Mintel’s respondents indicate that they tend to eat healthfully most of the time, and nearly as many agree that they make it a point to snack on healthy foods, says Mintel’s report, The Healthy Snacking Consumer – Healthy Snacking Attitudes and Habits.

Another problem for purveyors of healthy snacks, according to the report, is the increased incidence for not-so-healthy snacks to apply “healthy halos,” giving the perception that they are in some way healthy. Those snacks take away potential consumers of healthy snacks, according to the report.