Breyers Ice Cream Bars. Strawberry, and Peach. $4.19 per 18-ounce box containing six bars.
Bonnie: Think ice cream on a stick. That's Breyers new Ice Cream Bars. I like that these are portion-controlled, which is something needed by those who think a pint of Ben & Jerry's is single-serve.
Nutritionally, one bar is almost equivalent to a half-cup serving of either Breyers All Natural Strawberry or Peach, although neither is as strongly flavored. Perhaps that's because these contain less sugar and more additives. Compared to Breyers ice cream in cartons, each bar contains 10 fewer calories, 3 to 4 fewer grams of sugar and less vitamin C (although you shouldn't be looking to ice cream for vitamin C).
In addition, while both of these Breyers All Natural Ice Creams contain only milk, the namesake fruit, sugar, cream and natural flavor, the bars have a whole string of additives to keep the ice cream on the stick. That's why people who can control their portion sizes should have a scoop of Breyers from a carton instead.
Carolyn: These new Breyers Ice Cream Bars are not being promoted as a diet product, but they should be. They have only 110 calories each, while being artificial-sweetener free. Because they're on a stick, they're also easier to eat on the run than ice cream in those little cups (with the wooden spoons), although you're eating essentially the same thing.
The packages do make a big deal about pieces of "real fruit" that were hard to find. Nevertheless, these could be a refreshing treat for those who prefer ice cream to frozen fruit bars or a more natural, creamy fruit flavor from their frozen treat than you get from a Creamsicle.
South Beach Refrigerated Wrap Sandwich Kits. Southwestern Style Chicken, Grilled Chicken Caesar, Turkey & Bacon Club, and Deli Ham & Turkey. $3.29 per 6.85- to 7.85-ounce box containing two wraps and Jell-O Sugar Free.
Bonnie: I have so many problems with these new sandwich wrap kits, it's hard to know where to begin. I'll start with the whole-wheat tortillas, something you'd think I'd like. Wrong. These contain an inordinately high 15 grams of fiber, which would be great if the fiber came from grains. But instead it comes from added ingredients, such as cellulose powder (a k a wood or cotton fiber) and modified food starch. For some very odd reason, these tortillas also contain Sucralose, the artificial sweetener.
These sandwich kits are also so high in sodium (1,430 milligrams, or 60 percent of the suggested daily limit) that even Kraft realizes it and has decided to reformulate them. Those new lower-sodium versions are scheduled to be in refrigerator cases later this year. That is, if they stay on the market that long — something I doubt, given how bad these cold, gummy meat-and-cheese combos taste. (For those who are keeping score, that's complaint No. 4.)
I will give Kraft some credit for the innovation of turning popular restaurant wraps into a convenience food. But that's about the only nice thing I can say.
Carolyn: These new deli wrap boxed lunches are part of a whole new line of convenience South Beach diet foods that Kraft is introducing just as the low-carb diet craze is dying down. Fortunately for Kraft, you don't have to be on a low-carb diet to find them appealing, or at least two of them.
Like Lunchables for kids, this is a "cold lunch" you only have to assemble. Each ingredient is individually wrapped, both to keep them from contaminating each other and, in the case of Lunchables, to give kids the chance to play with their food. Adults will probably see this aspect of the South Beach wraps as a chore they don't have time for.
I also had issues with some of the ingredients. A slice of cheese would have made more sense than shredded cheese, which falls out of any wrap that isn't microwaved. The turkey and chicken are too salty, and diet Jell-O is not the kind of dessert I look forward to.
But the Caesar and Southwestern wraps are quite good, mainly because of the interesting sauces and the less processed (and less salty) chicken cubes both use. Life may not always be a beach — especially when you're so busy that you don't have time to go out to lunch — but your lunch will be if you buy either of these South Beach Sandwich Kits.
Little Debbie TeamMates Cookies. $1.29 per 11-ounce box containing eight cookies.
Bonnie: Carolyn tells me that people buy Little Debbie's confections because they're cheap, er, I mean inexpensive. To me, that's very sad. If the desserts tasted good and were inexpensive, I'd understand, but that's not the case here.
Looking at these colorful TeamMates cookies makes me think of babies, not baseball, as these individually wrapped baseball-shaped cookies are decorated in baby pink and aqua. I certainly hope you could find something better-tasting to serve to your little slugger. I'm sure you could find something better for them, considering that each of these tiny (just more than an ounce) cookies packs 180 calories with a whopping 18 grams of sugar and 8 grams of fat. In other words, these cookies strike out.
Carolyn: These TeamMates cookies look a lot better than they taste. They look positively elegant — particularly the pink stitching. And whoever wrote the words "Little Debbie" where Rawlings should be gets an "A" in penmanship. But the frosting that covers these baseball cookies is clunky and way too sweet. Like a grand slam in the bottom of the ninth when there are two outs, it obliterates and renders moot every other thing, including the soft cookie-cake and its interior layer of strawberry jam.
Bonnie Tandy Leblang is a registered dietitian and professional speaker. Carolyn Wyman is a junk-food fanatic and author of "Better Than Homemade: Amazing Foods That Changed the Way We Eat (Quirk). Each week they critique three new food items. © Universal Press Syndicate