Snacks, corn cakes, very low sodium

Corn cakes are a light, puffed, rice-cake-style snack made from corn instead of rice, with an airy, crunchy structure and a mild, faintly sweet corn flavor. They are usually eaten plain or as a light base for toppings like nut butter, mashed avocado, hummus, or cottage cheese, functioning as a lower-sodium stand-in for crackers when a crunchy base is needed without much flavor of its own competing with what goes on top.

The airy structure means corn cakes absorb ambient moisture quickly and turn chewy or stale if left unsealed, so keeping the package closed in a dry pantry is important for keeping the crunch. Each cake is small, at 9 grams, so the 387 calories per 100 grams translates to about 35 calories per cake, making it easy to eat several as a topping base without a big calorie cost. True to its very low sodium label, sodium is just 28 milligrams per 100 grams, among the lowest of any packaged snack, while protein comes in at 8.1 grams per 100 grams (16% of the Daily Value) and magnesium at 27% DV, a solid combination for a snack that is built almost entirely around one grain and very little else.