If you’ve wandered around the grocery store looking for a healthier dip, there’s a good chance you’ve stumbled upon the popular Walmart’s Marketside Premium Heatable Spinach Artichoke dip.
Hearing ingredients like ‘spinach’ and ‘artichoke’ instantly makes you envision a dip that’s not just a tasty companion for your chips but a healthy treat that supports your wellness goals. We investigated the Marketside spinach dip more closely to see whether it truly is a healthy alternative or if there is a reason for concern.
Walmart Spinach Artichoke Dip Nutrition Facts
The Marketside Premium Heatable Spinach Artichoke Dip sure sounds like a treat: it’s gluten-free and is marketed as an authentic option you can enjoy with your chips.
The dip comes in a 16-oz tub and contains an estimated 15 servings per container, which is 30 grams per serving.
According to the nutrition information label, one serving contains:
- 90 calories
- 8 g of fat
- 180 mg of sodium
- 2 g of carbs
- 3 g of protein
- 1 g of added sugar
Unfortunately, the dip doesn’t contain any dietary fiber despite being supposed to contain spinach and artichoke, which are naturally high in fiber.
As the nutrition label suggests, however, the dip is still primarily a source of fat – and even more remarkably, one serving contains 3.5 grams of saturated fat – the kind you would want to avoid.
One redeeming nutrition fact is the dip’s protein content, but it’s definitely not a good source of protein for its general fat content and the amount of calories.
If you consumed 90 grams of the Walmart Spinach Artichoke dip (3 servings), you would consume 9 grams of protein (which is fairly decent for a dip), but at the same time, you’d load yourself with 270 calories and a whopping 24 grams of fat—from the dip alone.
Walmart Spinach Artichoke Dip Ingredients
The Walmart Spinach Artichoke Dip is primarily based on cream cheese, which is its main component together with mayonnaise.
Here’s the full ingredient list, as seen on Walmart’s online store:
- Cream Cheese (Pasteurized Milk and Cream, Cheese Culture, Salt, Carob Bean Gum, Xanthan Gum, Guar Gum),
- Mayonnaise (Soybean Oil, Water Egg Yolks, Distilled Vinegar, Contains Less than 2%: Salt, Sugar, Corn Syrup, Corn Syrup, Spice, Lemon Juice Concentrate),
- Spinach,
- Artichoke Hearts,
- Water,
- Salt,
- Citric Acid [Preservative],
- Ascorbic Acid [Preservative],
- Parmesan Cheese [Pasteurized Part-Skim Milk, Cheese Culture, Salt, Enzymes),
- Low-Moisture Part-Skim,
- Mozzarella Cheese and Medium Asiago Cheese Blend with Garlic (Low-Moisture Part-Skim Mozzarella Cheese [Pasteurized Part-Skim Milk, Cheese Culture, Salt, Enzymes], Medium Asiago Cheese [Pasteurized Milk, Cheese Culture, salt, Enzymes], Garlic, Natamycin [A Mold Inhibito]),
- Sour Cream (Cultured Pasteurized Grade A Milk, Cream Nonfat Dry Milk, Gelatin),
- Salt & Sugar,
- Distilled Vinegar,
- Lemon Juice Concentrate,
- Glucono Delta-Lactone,
- Potassium Sorbate [Preservative],
- Sodium Benzoate [Preservative],
- Xanthan Gum,
- Citric Acid[Preservative].
The good news is that the Walmart Spinach Artichoke dip does, indeed, contain actual spinach and artichoke hearts. That, however, does not instantly make it healthy due to some ingredients that may pose certain side effects and downsides on your general wellness.
The first potentially troublesome ingredient to look out for is citric acid. While sounding harmless enough, 99% of the commercial citric acid manufactured today comes from black mold (the Aspergillus niger fungus). It’s a strong allergen, which may still be found in the finished end product – citric acid. Studies have suggested that citric acid may contribute to inflammation and, therefore, may not be as safe as generally assumed.
Common food preservative sodium benzoate may pose even worse health issues. Some research findings have suggested that sodium benzoate may have a genotoxic effect, creating oxidative stress in the body and having adverse effects on the immune system.
Potassium sorbate, which is often used in conjunction with sodium benzoate, has its own potential downsides, including cytotoxic and genotoxic effects.
While all of these additives have been deemed safe for human consumption, the main issue lies in the amount ingested. There’s still too little research available on the actual health effects concerning human bodies, but as food additives and preservatives have become more prevalent, it’s more than likely you may be consuming rather high amounts of these additives on a daily basis.
Fortunately, most other ingredients in the Walmart Spinach Artichoke dip are relatively safe. Emulsifiers like xanthan gum may trigger some digestive troubles in certain people, but so far, studies haven’t found xanthan gum unsafe, at least not if consumed up to 15 grams per day.
Is Walmart Spinach Artichoke Dip a Healthy Choice?
Based on the dip’s high fat content, lack of fiber, and troublesome food additives (especially citric acid and sodium benzoate), we can’t say it’s a healthy dip choice. It may definitely taste good, thanks to various cheeses in its components, but the aforementioned preservatives may trigger adverse health effects, which are better to avoid.
As with any food item, it’s important to keep your consumption moderate. Even if you’d like to try this popular dip, just remember it’s not something you should eat regularly.
It may be a fun party dish, but you should remember the potential downsides carried by some of the food additives in its ingredient list.
Healthier Dip Alternatives
If you enjoy a spinach dip with your chips, consider making a homemade spinach dip instead. For example, combine spinach, sour cream, and Greek yogurt with some herbs and spices – that way, you’ll decrease the fat content, increase the protein, and avoid all of the unnecessary food additives usually found in commercial dips.
There are even some ready-made spinach dip mixes available on Amazon, so you could just mix it together with sour cream and other ingredients to prep your dip easily at home:
A Blend Above Spinach Parmesan Dip Mix
– Contains parmesan cheese
– Just mix it together with sour cream & Greek yogurt (or additive-free mayonnaise)
To Market Ain’t No Joke, It’s Spinach Artichoke
– Contains just dried spinach and herbs, so you’ll need to add some artichoke and cheese to make a dip at home
Desert Gardens Spinach Dip Mix
– Contains only dehydrated spinach, onion, garlic and salt
– Simply mix it together with sour cream for a tasty dip
There are plenty of health-oriented alternatives out there, so if you’re looking for a better dip choice, consider making one at home, instead of opting for the pre-packaged dip that may contain some potentially questionable ingredients.
