8 Highest-Quality Pickles on Grocery Shelves—and 3 To Avoid
Whether you're indulging in a salty snack, adding a slice to your sandwich, or topping off your burger, pickles are a savory solution whenever you're craving a flavorful, crunchy bite. A good source of micronutrients and with a low calorie count, for the most part, pickles are a healthy food. However, not all store-bought options are created equal, and finding the highest-quality pickles is important when making your purchase.
Pickles are made through either fermentation or vinegar pickling. In fermentation, cucumbers are preserved in a saltwater brine, which encourages beneficial bacterial growth, while vinegar pickling submerges vegetables in a salty vinegar solution along with spices and flavorings.
Even though these processes can be done with simple pantry ingredients, many manufacturers add preservatives to prolong shelf life, some of which may pose health risks. One of the most common preservatives is sodium benzoate, an artificial ingredient that has been linked to possible increases in inflammation, effects on ADHD, and behavioral changes in children. While the FDA asserts that smaller doses of this preservative are generally safe, at the end of the day, if there are high-quality pickle brands that don't use artificial preservatives, why not opt for those?
Additionally, it's important to pay attention to pickles' sodium content given salt's integral role in pickling. Naturally, pickles tend to be higher in sodium, but most healthy brands keep their levels between 150-300 milligrams per serving.
To help you pick the best pickles on grocery story shelves, we've curated a list of some of the healthiest, highest-quality pickle brands on the market today, as well as a few not-so-great choices that we suggest leaving behind if you can. Read on to learn more, then check out 20 Healthy Chips for Weight Loss.
