Kraft Handi-Snacks 'n Cheez. Mister Salty Pretzels, Ritz Crackers and Premium Breadsticks. $1.89 per 5-ounce package of five individual snacks, or $2.79 per 8-ounce package of eight snacks.
Bonnie: Remember Mister Salty? Well, that pretzel-shaped sailor is back, this time on Handi-Snacks' new pretzels and cheese snack. Kraft also just introduced a Handi-Snack containing cheese dip and Premium breadsticks, and the dip with Ritz crackers. Each contains about 100 calories, 3.5 to 6 grams of fat, and some calcium. Mister Salty contains the least fat, but as you might have guessed from his name, the most salt. All provide some convenient nutrition while curbing your appetite.
Carolyn: Kraft is revamping its famous I'm-Stuck-at-the-Office-With-Nothing-to-Eat Handi-Snacks cheese and crackers (excuse me, cheez 'n crackers) desperation food fare to include some of the Nabisco brands Kraft now owns.
Premium Cheez 'n Breadsticks is a case of Kraft simply slapping the Premium name onto its long-standing, slightly sweet and quite delicious generic breadstick and cheez combo.
The Ritz Crackers 'n Cheez is more troubling because the crackers look exactly like the old saltines, although (and this could be the power of suggestion) they do seem to have some of Ritz's rich taste. In any case, I believe Kraft should either pair this cheez with the golden-brown round Ritz we know and love, or call this cheez 'n cracker something else.
The only truly new offering is the Mister Salty Pretzels 'n Cheez. It's a good, if rarely seen, combination that also marks the return of the Mister Salty pretzel man after more than a decade's absence (or so Kraft says). Personally, I think Kraft should be at least as concerned about the dilution of its much better known and more beloved Ritz brand.
Carb Options Skippy Peanut Spread. $3.49 per 16.1-ounce jar.
Bonnie: Skippy Peanut Butter Carb Options is proof that the furor over low-carb foods has turned to madness. At 7 grams of carbohydrates per 2-tablespoon serving, regular peanut butter is already a low-carb food. To save a minuscule 2 grams of carbs, Skippy has been transformed from a nearly 100 percent peanut product to one that contains only 65 percent peanuts, a protein-compensating amount of soy protein and the artificial sweetener Splenda (sucralose). The latter two are the reasons for its off aftertaste.
Thankfully, you can still buy regular Skippy (which, incidentally, contains the exact same amount of calories, fat and protein).
Carolyn: The good news? Unlike reduced-fat peanut butter, low-carb peanut butter tastes almost exactly like regular.
The bad news? The fake sugar and added soy significantly raise the cost while not improving the protein or reducing the calorie and fat hits of one of America's favorite spreads.
In other words, Carb Options Skippy is for low-carb dieters only (and maybe not them, if you believe Bonnie).
Stonyfield Farm Moo-la-la. Double Chocolate, White Chocolate Raspberry, Lemon Chiffon and Strawberry Cheesecake. $2.49 per multipack of four 4-ounce yogurts.
Bonnie: I generally like Stonyfield Farm yogurts. They're all-natural, organic, contain live yogurt cultures and taste good. At least most do. All but one (the White Chocolate Raspberry) of these new Moo-la-la yogurts have an odd taste. And I found the name foolish and the concept hard to figure. Are these really flavored yogurts, or are they desserts? With names like Lemon Chiffon and White Chocolate Raspberry, I'm guessing the latter. Regardless, I certainly won't be buying or recommending these over Stonyfield's healthier, tastier regular yogurts.
Carolyn: Stonyfield has decided to capitalize on the one-bite-for-me, one-bite-for-you phenomenon that helped spur the success of its whole-milk YoBaby yogurt for little ones with these new Moo-la-la whole-milk yogurts. They're essentially fancy-flavored YoBaby for adults.
I can't recommend the two with mix-ins. The lemon and chocolate syrups make the Lemon Chiffon and the Double Chocolate both too soupy and too sweet. The White Chocolate Raspberry and the Strawberry Cheesecake are great, although their flavors are simpler than their names. More accurate ones would be Raspberry and Strawberry Creme.
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