What was Quint eating in the town hall meeting?

In the movie JAWS, when Quint interrupts the meeting to make his bid on catching and killing the shark, he is eating something. I couldn't quite make out what it is. If anyone knows, please help.

Beyond being just a trivia question (and off-topic), what he's eating could give a little peak into his character's psychology, thus improving my enjoyment of the film. He obviously feels the need to eat it in front of people during a delicate and troubling time.

Granted, maybe it's nothing, and he just eats whatever is on hand whenever he's hungry, much like Bruce (the shark) did.

EDIT : Maybe it's an apple, like Napoleon suggests, but it seems cut into an even width piece as opposed to the crescent-shaped wedge (think orange or grapefruit pieces) apples are normally cut into. Also we only see him eating this one loud and crispy piece. No knife or apple core are to be seen, and Quint doesn't seem too much like a "cut up some fruit, put it in a baggy to take to the meeting" kind of guy.

character jaws

Best Answer

After carefully reviewing the clip, I would like to refute my esteemed colleague's apple hypothesis and offer incontrovertible proof as a professional snack sleuth that Quint is, in fact, munching on a saltine:

Quint breaks this flat item as he bites into it and makes a gravelly grinding sound when he chews it.
It's the perfect metaphor for a salty sailor like Quint.
This is also the kind of dry provisions a sailor might have on his boat...
...And indeed, Sam Quint is eating crackers on his boat in a later scene...
...Which explains where he got it - it was probably in his pocket (alternatively, a town hall meeting might provide this sort of snack).
Many people online are convinced this is a cracker and, more specifically, a saltine - like this one and that one and here and there (search for 'cracker'), and there are plenty more examples.
This image totally, irrefutably, kind of looks like a saltine that was bitten into, doesn't it?