Law enforcement officers work long hours that often make it difficult to find time for proper eating. Many officers end up visiting nearby restaurants or fast-food places, spending their hard-earned money on food that only piles on the calories.

Luckily, there are many types of healthy snacks that officers can easily purchase or make at home before they come in to work. We’ve gathered the top 17 snacks that can help police officers stay full and energized while on duty, along with various tips and tricks to help you enjoy healthier snacking without sacrificing taste and enjoyment.

Smart Snacking Tips for Police Officers

Before we get into the best snacks for officers on the go, let’s take a look at some tips and tricks for choosing or building healthier snacking options:

Choose Snacks Packed with Protein

Protein-packed snacks will give you a boost of energy that you just can’t get from fast-food fries or a bag of chips. You’ll find protein in various types of foods like nuts, canned meats, and more, allowing you to change up your protein source and keep from growing bored with your snacks.

Mix It Up with Sweet and Salty

While most people imagine that protein-snacks might have a boring flavor, you can easily make your food more intriguing with something sweet. Chocolate-covered nuts, for instance, can mix sweet and salty and make your snack something to look forward to.

Match Your Drink to the Snack

It’s too easy to reach for a soda or energy drink while on the job, but these drinks do little more than give a false boost of energy accompanied by an inevitable sugar or caffeine crash. Instead, drink water or sports drinks with your snack and appreciate the taste of the food all the more.

Avoid the Drive-Thru Lane

The biggest way to change how you snack involves steering clear of fast-food restaurants. What you might consider a quick snack can evolve into ordering a full meal, filling you with calories you don’t need and super-processed foods.

The 17 Best Police Officer Snacks

Now that we’ve gotten some basic tips out of the way, check out the top X snacks that hungry police officers can eat and feel good about.

1. 100 Calorie Snack Packs

Many of your favorite snacks come in little bags meted out into 100 calorie packs. Ranging from cookies to crackers, you can easily keep track of how many calories your snacks contain while ensuring that you don’t overeat. These aren’t the healthiest options, but work well if you need to maintain your caloric intake but don’t want to sacrifice your favorite snacks.

2. Fresh Fruits and Vegetables

Fresh fruits and vegetables make a great snack for hungry officers on the go. Using baggies or food storage containers, you can bring baby carrots, apple slices, or any other favorite fruit or veggie with you. Some fresh snacks like bananas and oranges come in their own wrapping, making for even easier carrying. If you prefer your fresh fruits or vegetables cold, you can opt for a lunchbox with an ice pack in it, which also works well if you like ranch dressing or caramel with your snack.

3. Dried Fruit

Dried fruit usually comes in resealable bags, making them easy to throw in your bag or carry in your vehicle. Raisins and dried prunes are great examples of dried fruit snacks, while you can also try freeze-dried fruit chips if you like a little crunch in your snack.

4. Canned Fruit

Peaches, mangoes, pears - these are just a few of the many canned fruit options available to police officers for snacking. LEOs can purchase small cans of individual fruits, or opt for fruit cup snack packs that often come with small plastic cups of sealed fruit. Whatever kind of fruit you prefer, all you’ll need is a spoon and some downtime to enjoy your snack of canned fruit.

5. Tortilla Pinwheels

Tortilla pinwheels, also called tortilla rollups, are easy snacks to make at home and take on the go. While requiring more effort than prepackaged food, you can optimize your pinwheels however you like. Common tortilla pinwheel recipes include tasty ingredients like lettuce, green or red pepper, deli meats, sandwich spreads, or condiments.

6. Energy Bars

Police officers need all the energy they can get while on shift. With flavors ranging from the sweet to the spicy, energy bars can be bought off of grocery store shelves or made in your own kitchen. Look for recipes that include nuts, seeds, and oats to give yourself an extra boost of protein while you snack.

7. Canned Meats

Another quick and easy way to pack protein into your snacktime includes canned meat. Chicken, beef, ham, and tuna can all be eaten directly out of the can, while you can also spread them on crackers if you prefer that extra crunch. Canned meat also doesn’t need to be heated or cooled, which means you can eat them at any time of the day.

8. Peanut Butter

Peanut butter works well as a standalone snack, a spread on crackers or bread, and as a dip for vegetables or fruits. This versatile food packs many important nutrients into its creamy goodness, including protein, iron, magnesium, and vitamins E and B6. Police officers looking for a quick pick-me-up can try adding peanut butter to their snack packs.

9. Cottage Cheese

Popular as a weight loss aid and post-workout meal, cottage cheese fills you up while providing important nutrients like calcium and protein. In addition, your gut will enjoy better health thanks to the probiotic bacteria built up in cottage cheese. You can eat this snack by itself, or in addition to vegetables or fruit.

10. Yogurt

Whether you purchase prepackaged cups or build your own, yogurt makes a great snack for cops on the go. Yogurt is typically mixed with oats, berries, or other fruits to create a parfait, while others enjoy yogurt straight from the tub. This food not only tastes delicious, it provides plenty of protein, probiotics, and calcium that help you feel full while eating less.

11. Trail Mix

Many police officers might remember trail mix as the snack that got them through summer camps, and that same snack works great while on patrol. You can buy premade bags of trail mix or create your own, mixing together everything from raisins and chocolate candies to nuts, seeds, and oats. The combined textures and flavors can keep your mouth busy without worrying about taking on extra calories.

12. Beef Jerky

For law enforcement officers with a more carnivorous interest, beef jerky makes a perfect snack while out on your beat. Easy to carry and store, you won’t have to worry about your jerky getting too warm or cold to eat. You’ll also discover that there are many different jerky flavors like teriyaki or peppery flavors. If beef doesn’t do it for you, you can also find jerky made from exotic animals like alligators, deer, and turkey.

13. Seeds and Nuts

Nuts and seeds may look tiny, but when eaten by the handful they can provide a serious boost of protein-backed energy. The best part is that you can find many varieties of each, such as nuts like almonds, peanuts, and pecans, or seeds from pumpkins, sunflowers, and fennel. Eat them alone or mix them up to create a tasty, energy-boosting snack.

14. Energy Bites

Similar to energy bars, energy bites look like rolled-up balls of dried fruits, nuts, seeds, or oats. Finding these premade can be difficult at a regular grocery store, but with some time and ingenuity you can create your own energy bites with ease. The ability to make them yourself lets you create energy bites out of your favorite salty, sweet, soft, or crunchy ingredients.

15. Hard-Boiled Eggs

With low calories and a high protein content, hard-boiled eggs make a great police officer snack. Not only do hard-boiled eggs fill you up fast, but they contain loads of antioxidants and vitamins including calcium, iron, potassium, selenium, and vitamins A and B. Dress up your hard-boiled eggs with a little salt and pepper, or add them to a lunchtime salad to bulk up the flavor and feeling of fullness.

16. Bread Goods

Breaded goods like muffins, rolls, and buns are a delicious and easy way to fill your stomach. Perfect as a breakfast item or snack, you can often purchase bread goods at grocery stores. However, making them yourself allows you the freedom to add ingredients like raisins or cinnamon, while you can also opt to use vegetables like zucchini or carrots to add flavor, texture, and moisture to bread goods.

17. Sandwiches

Sandwiches are a staple food for lunchboxes for a good reason - you can stack them however you like and eat them with just your hands. However, a good sandwich can last all day if you cut it into sections and eat one piece at a time as a snack. Use healthy ingredients and try to avoid processed meats and cheeses to benefit from the tastiness and vitamin content of your sandwiches.

5 Eating On the Go Tips

While it helps to know what the best police officer snacks are, you need to pay attention to other details for the best possible experience. Eating while on patrol puts you and your food in danger of cross-contamination, and practice makes perfect in creating the ideal on-patrol snack. Take a look at these handy tips for eating on the go as a police officer:

1. Carry - and Use - Hand Sanitizer

Police officer’s hands come in contact with many germ-laden items, ranging from the door you open to the paperwork signed by someone you pulled over. These germs transfer to your hands, where they can spread to anything you touch, including your food. Always keep hand sanitizer in an easy-to-find place and use it well before eating any snacks or meals.

2. Wipe Everything Down with Sanitizing Wipes

While on patrol, you may find it difficult to find time to snack outside of your vehicle. Much like your hands, police cars turn into petri dishes if left to their own devices. Before you take your snack out of its packaging, wipe down any areas of your police vehicle that may come in contact with that food to reduce the chance of bacterial transfers.

3. Collect Single-Use Utensils and Spices

Even when practicing healthy eating, it’s normal to end up at a fast-food restaurant every once in a while. When you do, use these opportunities to stow away extra single-use utensils and salt and pepper packets for future snacking. You can also collect items like straws, sugar packets, condiment packets, and napkins.

4. Build Your Own Snack Pack with a Bento Box

One of the easiest ways to create a snack pack that meets your taste, texture, and energy needs is to use a bento box. These handy containers have separated sections that allow you to build your own snack pack. Some great examples of foods to fit into your bento box include cheese cubes, roasted chickpeas, baby carrots, and spreads like peanut butter or tuna.

5. Don’t Wait Until You’re Hungry

It can be easy for police officers to ignore their hunger while dealing with a call, but waiting to eat until you’re hungry makes it more difficult to fill up on a small snack. Instead of only eating when your stomach starts to growl, take advantage of down time to pad your stomach with a healthy snack. Not only will you not feel hungry during inopportune times, but you’ll have more energy and feel more awake than you would after eating a larger meal.

Customize More Than Your On Duty Snacks With Curtis Blue Line

Learning how to take control of your snacking preferences helps you maintain a healthier lifestyle, a requisite for a long, rewarding career in law enforcement. At Curtis Blue Line, our Uniform Specialist can help independent police officers or law enforcement agencies in outfitting their department with their ideal uniforms and customized options.

Find out more about signing up for a Curtis Blue Line Agency account or scheduling a call with our trained Uniform Specialist today.

The information contained in this article is not presented by health professionals and should not be considered advice from a health professional. Any questions regarding your personal health and well-being should be directed toward your primary physician or other health professionals in your life. Do not consume any foods which you are allergic to or have otherwise been told by a health professional to not consume. Consult your doctor for more information on building healthy snacks specific to your circumstances.