Most Popular Junk Food: Exploring the World's Top Snack Choices

If someone asked you to name the one food most people can’t resist, what would you pick? You might immediately think of french fries, that greasy bag of potato chips, maybe a gooey slice of pizza, or even a good old bar of chocolate. There’s no shortage of options, and the debate gets heated—especially once you cross borders. Everyone has their favorite, but when you look at the shelves of supermarkets in New Zealand or stroll through a market in Thailand, junk food habits might surprise you. There’s a story behind every snack, and those stories reveal a lot about who we are, what we love, and what we just can’t quit eating.

The Global Champions of Junk Food

It’s not just about one country’s habits. If you follow the data—and companies spend billions every year to do exactly that—some snacks clearly lead the pack worldwide. Crisps, for example, have been dominating the snack aisle for decades. Walk into any shop in Wellington or London, and you'll find row after row of them. A 2023 report from Euromonitor showed potato chips are the top-selling packaged snack globally, racking up over USD $39 billion in sales in 2022. What’s wild is that chips aren’t even the same everywhere: Americans love Lay’s, Brits swear by Walker’s (which is basically the same chip with a new name), and in Japan, flavors range from seaweed to wasabi. The point? No matter where you are, odds are someone’s crunching on a chip nearby.

But potato chips aren’t the only contender in this race. Fast food—think burgers, pizza, fried chicken—pulls in even more money every year. In fact, McDonald’s alone sells around 75 hamburgers every second globally, according to a frequently cited but stunningly real stat from the company itself. That kind of volume dwarfs local chain sales and even puts big brands like Pringles or Doritos into perspective. The world’s infatuation with burgers, sandwiches, and pizza is so intense, you’ll even find Kiwi-style pizza popping up in unlikely places—usually with pineapple, a nod to our unique tastes.

Chocolate deserves a mention too. It’s not technically ‘junk’ in the fried-food sense, but when it comes to snacks we just can’t stop buying, it ranks right up there. The Swiss and Germans lead the way: in 2024, Statista reported the average Swiss ate 11.7 kg (about 26 pounds) of chocolate per person per year. In New Zealand? We’re a bit more moderate, but the average still hovers around 4.3 kg a year. That’s a lot of Whittaker’s and Cadbury for a small country. Let’s check out some hard numbers:

All those numbers are massive—but if you want to crown a winner, potato chips are probably the strongest candidate for the title of most eaten junk food across the globe. They’re cheap, tasty, wildly adaptable for local flavors, and just about everywhere. The only real rival? Soft drinks, but that’s a whole other battle between cola giants.

Why Are People Hooked On Certain Junk Foods?

Ever wondered what makes one snack totally irresistible while another just sits in the cupboard? There’s a science behind this. It’s called the ‘bliss point’—that perfect combo of salt, sugar, fat, and crunch that keeps us reaching for more. A team from Yale once ran a study comparing people’s responses to salty, fatty foods against those for sweet snacks. The brains of folks eating potato chips basically lit up like a Christmas tree. Turns out, our bodies have evolved to crave the quick energy hit that comes from calorie-dense food like fried snacks and sweets. Add some clever advertising, rainbow-colored packaging, and the smell of hot fries wafting through the air—and suddenly willpower doesn’t stand a chance.

Companies spend serious cash trying to tune their snacks to our cravings. Whether it’s Doritos powder that perfectly sticks to your fingers or the fizz of a cold Coke, those details are agonized over in labs. Don’t believe it? In 2013, Michael Moss’s book “Salt Sugar Fat” revealed that food corporations use teams of scientists to tweak recipes to maximize that addictive ‘just right’ taste. Kiwis aren’t immune—we’ve seen companies dropping more limited-time flavors and new combo packs every year because people get hooked on novelty, too. For example, when Bluebird rolled out Marmite-flavored chips, shops in Wellington sold out in hours. The formula is always simple: familiar taste, cheap price, never-ending variety.

It’s not just about how something tastes, though. Social habits get baked in early. A lot of us remember eating fish and chips at the beach as kids, or grabbing a quick burger on a road trip. These memories add a layer of nostalgia, and food marketers use that to their advantage. When Oreo launched in New Zealand, they ran ads with families sharing cookies and smiles. Simple, but it works—comfort food in a packet and advertising that makes you want to join the party. Even when health is on everyone’s mind these days, the urge to reach for something crispy, sweet, or salty is tough to resist. It’s built into our routines, part biology, part culture.

Junk Food Favorites Around the World

Take a trip across the world through its snacks and things get interesting fast. Every country has its must-have junk food, and those foods reveal a lot about local taste. Visit the US and you’ll obviously see people munching on Lay’s, Doritos, Twinkies, and scoffing down Big Macs like there’s no tomorrow. Jump over to India, and you’ll spot people dipping samosas in spicy chutney, or popping cheesy Masala Munch chips from Kurkure. Tokyo’s supermarkets fill their snack aisles with sweet potato KitKats, shrimp-flavored chips, and even squid jerky. Our tastes are global, but the flavors get hyper-local.

In New Zealand, you can’t really talk about junk food without mentioning hot chips. Fish and chips shops are everywhere. Most Kiwis have strong memories of eating chips at the beach, rugged up against gale-force winds. Another classic? The humble sausage roll. Maybe not always considered ‘junk,’ but pick one up at a petrol station and you’ll know what I mean. Because we’re influenced by both British and American food culture, our supermarket shelves fill up with crisps, cookies, chocolate, and of course, soft drinks like L&P. Ask people in Wellington what they’d pick as their guilty pleasure, and ‘salt and vinegar Bluebird chips’ comes up a lot.

Don’t forget the global icons like McDonald's or KFC. No matter where you go, you’ll run into someone posting selfies with their fries or Instagramming their next extreme burger. Big brands cleverly adapt, too. In France, you’ll get a Croque McDo (a sort of toasted cheese-and-ham McDonald’s sandwich); in India, it’s all about the Chicken Maharaja Mac. Pizza Hut and Domino's reinvent their menus all the time—introducing paneer toppings in India or barbecued meat pizzas in New Zealand. The result is the same: familiar comfort, but always just a little bit novel. Wherever you are, local favorite junk foods—whether it’s a Tim Tam in Sydney or a gooey cheese bread in Rio—reflect both what’s available and what people find irresistible.

Smart Snacking: Tips For Enjoying Junk Food (Guilt-Free!)

People are always being told to give up junk food, but that’s easier said than done. Instead, lots of nutritionists recommend thinking about balance rather than quitting cold turkey. Here’s the good news: you can enjoy your guilty pleasures without all the guilt—if you’re a little smart.

• Buy the small bag, not the family pack. It sounds simple, but studies have found that we eat what’s in front of us. Smaller portions mean you’re less likely to eat half your calories for the day just on chips.
• Don’t eat straight from the packet. Pour out a handful onto a plate. It feels like a lot and gives you a visual stop point. People who serve small portions are less likely to eat mindlessly.
• Mash up your own flavors. Craving something sweet and salty at once? Drop a few pretzels in your trail mix with chocolate. Or slice apple and sprinkle with cinnamon—studies suggest you’ll eat way less sugar when you make your own snacks at home.
• Use junk food as a treat. The ‘special occasion’ effect is real. Spacing out treats versus every-day eating means you’ll actually appreciate them more and feel less regret afterward.
• Pair snacks with healthy sides. Love pizza? Add a big green salad. Going for a burger? Load up on veggies and water too. It’s not about going full rabbit—just making your treat part of a well-balanced meal.

Food labels can be sneaky. Watch for buzzwords like ‘baked’ or ‘80% fat free’—they don’t always mean healthy. What matters most is what you actually end up eating, not the label on the front. A study in Australia in 2021 showed that people who read the back of the packet and checked actual nutrition info made way better choices than folks just going by ‘low fat’ claims. Even better, giving yourself permission to enjoy junk food but in smaller amounts lowered total cravings.

If you’re trying to cut down, it helps to be honest with yourself about patterns. Do you always eat chips late at night? Do you snack more when you’re bored? Knowing your triggers is a big step. Some people even use the ‘one swap’ rule: every time they’d reach for a fizzy drink, they have soda water instead. Or they cut chips into veggie sticks and dip them in hummus. Find what works for you and make it so easy you barely have to think about it.

Here’s the secret: nobody’s perfect. Even nutritionists sneak the odd donut or salty packet of crisps. Junk food is part of culture, part nostalgia, and sometimes, just what you need after a rough week. Balance and a bit of honesty go a long way. Next time you reach for a snack, maybe try one less chip—or just savor every bite. After all, food should be about enjoyment and memories, not just numbers on a scale.