Nabisco is watching your waistline with its latest Oreo cookies - Reduced Fat Oreo cookies contain half the fat of regular Oreos. The 1 pound, 4-ounce package will set you back $3.15.
Nihla Lake: (married, two children at home): "To make this test real scientific, we bought a package of `genuine' Oreo cookies to eat alongside these wannabes! That was a real big mistake. If you've never savored a real Oreo cookie, these low-fat specials might seem OK - but never on a par with the true `O's.'"The cookies were dry and bland and the anemic filling (which wasn't white) was pasty and tasteless. The savings in fat just somehow don't begin to compensate for all the loss of flavor of the good ol' Oreos."
Edyth Jensen (married, one daughter and two grandkids at home): "Is nothing sacred? Can't they leave anything alone? None of the family liked the low-fat Oreos. There's not enough frosting, and it's just not as good as the original frosting. I have a cookie jar full of cookies that no one will eat, and that's pretty unusual at my house. No, we won't be buying these again."
Don Russell (married, five children at home, ages 6-16): "Chocolaty, dry and sweet - sums up our thoughts about these cookies.
"Nabisco does seem to add a little less filling, but maybe my mind is playing tricks on me. If you're an Oreo fan, you'll probably like these cookies to one degree or another."
Linda C. Tingey (single mother, two teenage boys at home): "The reduced-fat Oreo cookies were not a hit at my house. Between my teenagers and grandkids (who found the cookies first), no one would eat them. I tasted them and they're not that bad, but they're very sweet to make up for the lost fat content. Nabisco has added too much sugar. The cookies are still sitting in my kitchen. The price is just a little rich, too. They're charging us for the work of taking out the fat."
Rich Firmage (married, four children, oldest 11 years old): "Like I said last week, Nabisco needs tostick to its regular cookies.
"Even if these have less fat, we all liked them, to be real honest. I never pay any attention to the fat in Oreos, anyway. I usually just eat them as fast as I can."
Bill Allred (single): "These really do taste pretty good, although I think I can discern a slight after-taste. Also, the texture isn't quite the same as with real Oreos; there's a kind of chalky quality to them. But, if you eat some reduced-fat Oreos with a big glass of cold milk, I'm betting that you won't be able to tell the difference. I suppose these cookies are a real boon for people like me; people who have the tendency to eat about half the package when the Oreos get opened."
Conclusion: Are they wannabes or will they let you eat your cake without keeping the fat calories too? We heard from both camps, but the nays were pretty vociferous. These are cookies destined to go stale in your cookie jar.
The Deseret News testing panel independently tests products purchased by the Deseret News. Readers with suggestions for products to be tested should contact Karen Boren, The Today Section, Box 1257, Salt Lake City, UT 84110.