Nabisco Ritz Chips. Original, Cheddar and Sour Cream & Onion. $2.99 per 9-ounce bag.
Bonnie: How did Nabisco make the already fatty and salty Ritz even fattier and saltier? By making them into snack chips.
Ritz crackers have always been a tasty but incredibly high-fat cracker. How incredibly indulgent are they? Ounce for ounce, Ritz crackers are similar in calories, fat and sodium (but unfortunately not in calcium and other nutrients) to the cheese that often tops them. And these new Ritz Chips contain more than 25 percent more fat and up to 67 percent more sodium than the crackers. These chips are oven-toasted (a k a baked), not fried, and do contain less fat than potato chips. But that's only if you eat them solo. I'll bet most folks will habitually reach for a piece of cheese to enjoy with their Ritz Chips. I also bet that these won't be on the grocery shelves for long.
Carolyn: Ritz Chips are Kraft's attempt to get that famous brand name out of the sleepy cracker aisle and into the booming snack chip business. It makes sense. Who buys crackers except for parties anymore, and how often do people have time to throw them? Plus, Americans nowadays are constantly snacking. At a time when lower-fat snacks like pretzels and Frito-Lay's Baked line are also on the rise, it makes sense to use a brand name with Ritz's baked heritage.
Baked or not, Ritz crackers are very rich. Ritz fans will be disappointed to discover that Ritz Chips taste much less so. The result is an original flavor without much flavor: I could recommend using it only with dips. And only the Sour Cream & Onion variety is interesting enough to eat alone. The Cheddar is neither here nor there. It has just enough cheese to conflict with a dip but not enough to carry the chip.
Annie Chun's FreshPak Noodle Bowls. Teriyaki Noodle Bowl, Miso Soup and Udon Soup. $2.49 per 5.3- to 6.7-ounce bowl.
Bonnie: These new noodle bowls are a welcome change from those salty, additive-laden brick packages of ramen noodles. Annie's noodles are 100 percent natural and vegetarian, and contain neither MSG nor preservatives. Each variety includes shelf-stable fresh noodles inside an Earth-friendly biodegradable bowl, along with Asian flavorings and some vegetables. I wish these had more vegetables (although Annie does provide suggestions for adding them plus meats).
I find two things rather curious about these bowls. The first is that one of these is not a soup but a bowl of noodles, which confused me on first try. Thinking it, like the others, was a soup, I added too much water (I'm convenience-food challenged).
And although these bowls and lids are made mainly from cornstarch to help save the Earth, the bowls and the noodles are both packaged in non-biodegradable plastic.
Carolyn: As someone who prefers thick soups and hates tofu, I figured the only way I would like Annie Chun's new noodle bowls would be with added meat and vegetables. Happily, this wasn't the case. The noodles provided plenty of ballast, and the flavor of the Miso and Udon Soup broths and dehydrated add-ins proved interesting enough on their own. (The key was not thinking too much about what those add-ins might be.) The Udon was a lot like a mild, complex onion soup; the Miso was thicker and sported Thai-like flavors.
The Teriyaki Noodle Bowl was not noticeably better than Budget Gourmet Spicy Szechwan or Lean Cuisine Teriyaki Stir Fry frozen entrees — not as good, actually, as Annie's sauce is too sweet. That's why I could recommend it only to people without freezer space.
I also recommend that Annie put a water-level marker in the soup bowls. Currently, you need a measuring cup, something not usually available in workplace cafeterias where this dish would otherwise be a natural.
General Foods International Instant Chai Latte Mix. $3.59 per 9.7-ounce canister.
Bonnie: Chai, which rhymes with "pie" and means tea, has been increasing in popularity in the past decade. Traditionally, a chai latte blends tea, honey, milk and various spices, often including cardamom, cinnamon, ginger and cloves. This new General Mills International Instant Chai Latte mix combines sugar, nondairy creamer, tea and spices. If you've never had chai before, I suggest you buy some Oregon Chai concentrate from the supermarket or try it at your local Starbucks. Both are truer to the real stuff and contain none of the artificial ingredients found in this General Foods powdered mix.
Carolyn: Of course Starbucks chai will be better than instant, Bonnie. Their coffee is also better than mine. But General Foods International Instant Chai Latte will be plenty good for most people, especially chai newbies. If that describes you, I can tell you that chai tastes like tea with a lot of milk, sugar and mulled cider-type spices. It's a great hot drink alternative to cocoa, coffee or ordinary tea — which tastes, in a word, like Christmas. I, for one, am grateful to General Foods for making it available in a convenient and affordable form.
Bonnie Tandy Leblang is a registered dietitian and professional speaker. Carolyn Wyman is a junk-food fanatic and author of "Jell-O: A Biography" (Harvest/Harcourt). Each week they critique three new food items. © Universal Press Syndicate