Minute Maid Enhanced Orange Juice. Active and Multi-Vitamin. $3.29 to $3.59 per 59-ounce plastic bottle.
Bonnie: A couple of years ago, Minute Maid introduced Heart Wise orange juice that contained cholesterol-lowering plant sterols (which is effective only when the sterols are consumed in certain amounts — twice a day as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol). Now it is introducing two other juices to create an enhanced juice line: one with 10 percent to 35 percent of essential vitamins and minerals (as you'd find in a vitamin pill), and the other with added glucosamine HCl, an ingredient currently thought to help protect cartilage and joints.
As I opened the refrigerator door and saw these three orange juices, I wondered: Did I want to drink to help my heart, my bones or my general well-being today? If I drink the vitamin-enriched OJ, should I still take a multivitamin? If I were taking pills containing glucosamine, should I take them after drinking the enhanced juice? Oh, I had so many questions to pose to Minute Maid.
The response from its 800 number was the expected "Consult with your health-care provider to be sure you're not getting too much of any of these nutrients." My advice: Save your money, take any supplements you may need, and drink regular orange juice.
Carolyn: Minute Maid is extending its use of orange juice as a health delivery system, which started with calcium and fiber, to include these vitamin-enriched and joint-enhancing OJs. At the same time, Minute Maid is also putting its old Heart Wise and new Multi-Vitamin and Active juices into see-through plastic packaging that gives them a premium, not-from-concentrate look.
But these contain 5 ounces less than a half-gallon of regular old from-concentrate Minute Maid and come at a premium price. The best thing I can say is that vitamins and joint medicine don't hurt the taste of orange juice as much as calcium does. I agree with Bonnie that you'd probably do better just to buy and consume your nutritional enhancements and your orange juice separately.
Nature Valley 100 Percent Natural Cereal. Oats 'n Honey, and Cinnamon. $3.99 per 14-ounce box.
Bonnie: I like the ingredients in Nature Valley's two new cereals. They contain no HFCS (high-fructose corn syrup) and no artificial flavors, colors or sweeteners. Each is also a good source of fiber (4 grams per serving) and an excellent source of whole grains, which means each serving contains one of the three whole-grain servings recommended daily.
But these cereals are way too sweet. Each serving contains 16 grams of sugar (mainly from the sugary granola bar pieces), or about twice as much as Honey Nut Cheerios. Both Nature's Path FlaxPlus and Post Raisin Bran cereals have more fiber, and their sweetness comes mainly from raisins.
Carolyn: "This tastes just like the granola bars," my husband declared after his first few bites of Natural Valley Oats 'n Honey Cereal. I was puzzled. They tasted more like a blend of Wheaties and the old sugar-frosted Rice Krinkles to me. It was only the next day, as I was halfway into my second spoonful of Nature Valley's Cinnamon variety and finally encountered my first Nature Valley granola piece, that I understood what he had been talking about.
I'm not implying that there are too few granola pieces in these cereals. But they should be smaller, lighter and more evenly distributed — if they should be in there at all. After all, I had been initially inclined to give this cereal a thumbs-up on the basis of its flakes alone.
Madhouse Munchies Corn Tortilla Chips. White, and Blue. $2.99 to $3.49 per 8-ounce to 9-ounce bag.
Bonnie: Madhouse Munchies Corn Tortilla Chips just recently became nationally available. Let me be the first to start the applause. A serving of about nine of these all-natural, canola oil-cooked chips contains 140 calories, 110 milligrams of sodium and 6 grams of fat, which is similar to most other brands of chips.
So why am I excited about this national launch? Because Madhouse Munchies chips contain none of the saturated or trans fats that are found in national brands, including Tostitos, Kettle and Cape Cod tortilla chips. And they have a strong corn flavor — probably because the only ingredients are stone-ground corn, canola oil and salt.
Carolyn: I'm a lot less excited about these than Bonnie is. The White variety, in particular, tastes pretty much like the mainstream brands Bonnie just mentioned and seems just as salty. Only the Blue variety tastes really corny. It's the only one I'd recommend and, even then, not to the salt-phobic.
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. For previous columns, visit www.supermarketsampler.com. © Universal Press Syndicate