Lots of the original health foods were good–Wheat Thins, Gatorade, Tiger Bars, etc.
Unfortunately, the belief that food which tastes good can’t be healthy made these become just normal snacks and the health craze people changed to deflavored version of the same products.
Course that means these are cheaper now. 
Well… Snacking isn’t in and of itself bad. Snacking plus regular meals is.
Some healthy, thin people eat set meals, others snack sensibly without any meals. Personally, I never could get used to the idea of forcing a full steak, mashed potatoes, soup, and a desert all into my stomach in one sitting. Eating lots of small non-mixed snackss (i.e. a thing of grapes now, a single burrito an hour later, some cheese slices yet another hour later, etc.) gets you a fully rounded diet, keeps you full, and can still keep you thin. It’s trying to mix those two however will do you in.
…And of course it seems some people just gain weight easier per volume of food ingested–so scheduling and sizes should be a personalised thing regardless of which method fits you better.
I use the Weight Watcher’s plan, and these are the snacks I like. I get one snack a day, plus three regular meals:
Carrots, broccoli, summer squash or zucchini with non-fat ranch dip
1/2 cucumber, peeled, sliced and lightly salted. If you really want to go low cal, this one has about 10 calories and for me at least, cucumber is surprisingly filling.
1 slice of low-cal bread (I use Nature’s Own) with one wedge of Laughing Cow soft cheese
1 serving of non-fat potato chips, or tortilla chips with or without salsa (I get the kind of chips with Olestra, since they have much less calories than any other baked or fried chip, so YMMV on this if you don’t like Olestra)
1 Silhouette ice cream sandwich (AKA ‘Skinny Cow’)
1 Guilt Free ice cream sundae (these are GOOD and have 4 grams of fiber too!)
1 Nabisco 100-calorie Pack - these are new: http://www.nabiscoworld.com/100caloriepacks/ - there are 5 or 6 different varieties and while I could easily eat the entire box, I manage to control myself and stick to just one.
All of these things are 150 calories or less. I don’t have fruit as a snack because it’s already included in my main meals and it seems to make me hungry again more quickly if I just eat that and nothing else.
on peanut butter:
If it’s something one likes, I strongly recommend going with the all natural.
Ingredients: Peanuts, salt.
The other stuff has peanuts, salt, the trans fat (even if it’s low), added sugars and other weird things.
When you first get a jar of the all natural you might think it doesn’t taste as good, and you’ll have to mix it because it does seaparate, but after eating it for a while, you’ll think the Skippy and Jif taste and feel like petroleum products.
And, I’d never suggest eating “lite mayo” or “fat free” anything. I’m saying that the natural PB is better for you, and better.
Aside from fruit, my main two snacks tend to be granola bars and dry cereal… Granola bars (Quaker actually makes what is called “Fruit and Oatmeal” bars that are only approx. 130 calories, 2.5 grams of fat (this is the Strawberry one), they are totally yummy!), oatmeal is great (instant, because then you can just put in the water and stick it in the microwave)… Also, I love dry cereal, mainly because I cannot drink milk (my digestive system would hate me)… Cheerios are great, Honey Nut Cheerios isn’t much more fat or calories compared to Cheerios… I love Quaker Squares (try them, I command it).
However, you can never go wrong with fruits and vegetables… I use this chart to find out my calories and fat for my fruits and veggies.
Watch out for store bought stuff that’s low-fat, especially dressing. They often have tons of sugar, and you’d be better off eating the full-fat stuff.
I’m a big fan of berries mixed with yogurt or dessert tofu. The tofu is pretty tasty - and I’m quite picky (I don’t like regular tofu).
[slight-hijack] Does anybody know where you can buy the various types of Jerky in the U.K.? I’ve never seen it for sale but it sounds like the sort of thing I might like and if it’s not too bad for you, all the better. [/slight-hijack]
I have had a completely different experience, I eat 3 meals a day and have at least 3 snacks and I’ve lost 50+ lbs. Eating often can prevent hunger (and binging) and supposedly, it keeps the metabolism revved up. It’s all individual - but please don’t be afraid snacking will definitely make you fat!
Seconded. M mom raised us in her unique, hippie way, and we basically never ate processed foods. I still can’t bring myself to eat Skippy.
If you like peanut butter, for variety you might want to try almond butter or cashew butter. Or I just got some interesting-looking cashew/macadamia butter at Trader Joe’s. I haven’t tried it yet, but it sounds yummy.
How about hummus or baba ganoush? They are easy to make, especially the hummus, which can all be made from pantry staples: chickpeas, tahini, garlic, lemon, salt to taste, maybe a bit of cumin or cayenne…eat with sliced veggies or whole-wheat pita.
We make these, using any snacky-type food that can be portioned out to around 100 calories and under 20 grams of carbs. My husband is a diabetic and eating throughout the day seems to work best for him. A digital scale and some snack-size sealable baggies and we’re good to go.