Simple Mills makes a genuinely cleaner product than most conventional snack brands, but “healthy” depends on what you’re comparing it to and how much you eat. Their crackers, cookies, and baking mixes use whole food ingredients like almond flour, sunflower seeds, and flax seeds instead of refined wheat flour, and they skip artificial additives entirely. That said, some of their products lean heavily on starchy fillers, and the nutrition numbers aren’t as impressive as the ingredient list might suggest.
What’s Actually in Simple Mills Products
The ingredient lists are short and recognizable, which is a genuine advantage. Their bestselling Fine Ground Sea Salt Almond Flour Crackers contain a nut and seed flour blend (almonds, sunflower seeds, flax seeds), tapioca, cassava, organic sunflower oil, sea salt, organic onion, organic garlic, and rosemary extract for freshness. That’s nine ingredients, all of which you could find in a grocery store yourself.
Simple Mills avoids natural flavors, artificial preservatives, and gums like xanthan gum that are common in other gluten-free brands. All products are gluten-free with third-party lab testing, kosher certified, and free of GMO ingredients. They don’t use soy, corn, or refined vegetable oils.
The Starch Problem
Here’s where the health halo starts to dim. The Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) flagged a pattern across Simple Mills crackers: while the first ingredient is a nut or seed flour blend, the second and third ingredients are typically tapioca starch and cassava flour. Both are refined starches with minimal nutritional value. They’re there to create the crispy texture people expect from crackers, but they dilute the nutritional benefits of the almonds and seeds.
The result is a product that sounds nutrient-dense but delivers modest numbers. A serving of the almond flour crackers (17 crackers) provides 150 calories, 3 grams of protein, 2 grams of fiber, and 180 mg of sodium. That fiber and protein count is better than something like Blue Diamond Nut-Thins (which are mostly rice flour despite the almond branding), but it’s far below what you’d get from a truly seed-based cracker. Flackers flax seed crackers, for comparison, deliver 8 grams of fiber and 6 grams of protein per serving because they’re made entirely from whole flaxseeds.
The Oil They Use Is a Good Choice
Simple Mills uses organic, high oleic, expeller pressed sunflower oil in their crackers. This matters because standard sunflower oil is high in omega-6 fatty acids, which can promote inflammation when consumed in excess. High oleic sunflower oil has a different fatty acid profile, with a higher percentage of monounsaturated fat (the same heart-healthy type found in olive oil and avocados). It’s a meaningfully better choice than the soybean oil, canola oil, or palm oil found in most conventional crackers and cookies.
Sugar in Their Sweet Products
Simple Mills uses coconut sugar as the primary sweetener in their cookies, cake mixes, and brownie mixes instead of refined cane sugar. Coconut sugar has a lower glycemic index (around 35 to 54, compared to about 65 for table sugar), meaning it causes a slower rise in blood sugar. It also contains measurably higher levels of minerals like potassium, calcium, iron, and zinc compared to cane or beet sugar.
That said, sugar is still sugar. Their chocolate muffin and cake mix is roughly 33 percent sugar by weight, delivering about 2 teaspoons of sugar per serving. You’re not eating a health food when you make their brownies. You’re eating a brownie made with better ingredients. That distinction matters if you’re choosing between Simple Mills and a box of Duncan Hines, but it doesn’t make the brownies nutritious.
How It Compares to Conventional Brands
Against mainstream crackers like Ritz or Wheat Thins, Simple Mills wins easily. Conventional crackers typically use enriched wheat flour (refined), soybean or canola oil, sugar, and a long list of preservatives and flavor enhancers. Simple Mills removes all of that. You’re getting real food ingredients, better fats, and no artificial anything.
Against other health-focused brands, the picture is more nuanced. If your priority is maximizing fiber and protein, whole-seed crackers like Flackers or Mary’s Gone Crackers will outperform Simple Mills. If your priority is eating gluten-free with clean ingredients and a taste and texture close to conventional snacks, Simple Mills is one of the better options available.
Who Benefits Most From Simple Mills
Simple Mills is a strong fit if you’re avoiding gluten, grains, or highly processed ingredients. The short ingredient lists and absence of gums, artificial flavors, and refined oils make them appealing for people following paleo-style diets or anyone trying to reduce their intake of processed food. They’re also a practical choice for parents looking for packaged snacks without a long list of additives.
Where Simple Mills falls short is when people treat it as a nutrient-dense food rather than a cleaner version of a snack. The crackers are still primarily starch and fat. The cookies and baking mixes still contain meaningful amounts of sugar. Eating half a box of almond flour crackers because they seem healthy will give you the same caloric load as eating half a box of any other cracker. The ingredients are better, but the portion math is the same.