A phytosterol/salt mixture for even topical application to snack products. At least one free phytosterol in dry form is combined with at least one salt of a similar particle size to form a homogenous blend and applied to the surface of a hot snack food product. The at least one free phytosterol can also be part of a phytosterol blend comprised of at least 95% free phytosterols. To ensure that neither the phytosterol nor salt component settles out and to provide for uniformity of the homogenous blend, the phytosterol blend is of a similar size distribution to the at least one salt. In test runs, a phytosterol blend and at least one salt were combined in a ratio of approximately 53:47, with size ranges determined by sieve analysis to generally fell within the range of 149 to 400 microns.
