Those are the husks of the mung beans that come off the beans when they sprout. We leave them in for three reasons: They provide a lot of the healthful minerals in Crunchsters, they hold the spices and distribute the flavor throughout the bag, and they give you a finer, more high frequency crunch that contrasts with the thicker crunch of the mung bean itself. Put these two textures together and you have yourself a little symphony of crunch in your mouth that changes with every mouthful, not like potato chips that are the same monochromatic texture with every mouthful.