Protein is being added to foods that never had much of it, The New York Times and Food Business News reported. Shoppers can now find protein tortilla chips, granola, baby food, pudding and even ranch dressing, The Times reported.

The trend has many drivers. Protein is a focus of weight-loss advice and of weightlifters. Doctors advise more protein for patients on GLP-1 weight-loss drugs. The government's new dietary guidelines raised recommended protein levels by more than 50%, The Times reported.

NIQ, which tracks retail food sales, counts 37,232 products in stores with protein claims on the front of the package. Shoppers spent around $90 billion on these products over the past year, The Times reported.

Food makers are racing to keep up. Global patent applications for high-protein foods reached 5,626 in the year ended June 30, an 80% increase from five years ago, Food Business News reported, citing the law firm Mathys & Squire. Nestle, Cargill and Arla Foods filed the most. "Demand for high-protein foods is so strong that manufacturers are looking for every possible way to add protein to their best-selling products," said Michael Stott of Mathys & Squire, Food Business News reported.

Some experts are skeptical. "A snack food is an indulgent food, and people need to understand it that way," said Donald Layman, a professor emeritus at the University of Illinois who helped inform the guidelines. He told The Times that the guidelines favor foods naturally high in protein, such as dairy, meat, nuts and beans. Adding protein to snacks is "fairy dust," he said.

An analyst at the research firm SPINS said in March that the trend had not peaked yet, Food Business News reported.

What we know: Protein claims are on tens of thousands of products, and patent filings for high-protein foods are rising fast.
What we don't: Whether the boom will last, and whether added protein in snacks offers any real health benefit.