Del Monte Fruit Chillers. Arctic Strawberry, Polar Raspberry, and Glacial Mango. $2.59 per carton of four 4.5-ounce cups.
Bonnie: Fruit Chillers are fruit puree in a sealed cup that turn into sorbet when you freeze them overnight. This freeze-and-eat concept dates back to those liquid pops in plastic tubes like Fla-Vor-Ice. Del Monte does it LOTS better.
That's because Fruit Chillers are made from real fruit. One cup provides about 190 sugar calories, at least 100 percent of the recommended vitamin C, and 2 grams of fiber. These contain no artificial flavors, although the very-red raspberry and strawberry flavors do contain artificial coloring.
I'd recommend the best-tasting, no-added-color Glacial Mango. It's also the most nutritious, containing 150 percent vitamin C.
Carolyn: I can't remember the last time I've been this excited by a shelf-stable fruit product. That's probably because I've never been excited about ANY shelf-stable fruit product before Del Monte Fruit Chillers. They're real fruit puree that emerge from the freezer with as fine a texture and as true a fruit taste as anything from a $4.50-a-scoop gourmet gelato shop. I am talking about a raspberry that's clearly and easily distinguishable from the strawberry, and a mango that tastes like mango instead of peach.
A reasonable price is not the only plus, not having to make a trip to the gelato shop is also convenient. These can sit at home in your cupboard — and not clog up your freezer — until just a couple of hours before you're ready to eat them. In short, Del Monte Fruit Chillers are real winners.
Mrs. Dash 10-Minute Marinades. Spicy Teriyaki, and Garlic Lime. $3.99 per 12-ounce bottle.
Bonnie: Americans currently consume about twice the 2,000 milligrams of sodium that the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends as the daily maximum amount. In a recent report, the WHO endorses a reduction in salt intake as a cost-effective means of lowering blood pressure, thus preventing heart disease, stroke and other serious health problems. And Mrs. Dash's raison d'etre is to season food with no added salt. I applaud the concept but not the taste of either of these new marinades. In fact, each ruined a good piece of meat.
Instead of using these, marinate your foods in a simple vinaigrette, being prudent about the amount of salt you add. And if you want to mimic the lime or pineapple flavors in these new Mrs. Dash marinades, just add that juice as the "acid" in place of vinegar or lemon juice in your marinade.
Carolyn: How do you get flavor into meat without salt? If you're the experts at Mrs. Dash and are trying to make a spicy teriyaki marinade, you use vinegar — and lots of it. After water, vinegar is the main ingredient in this new marinade and, as a result, it tastes extremely harsh and acidic — and not very teriyaki-like. I didn't like what it did to my chicken at all.
The Garlic Lime also tastes acidic, but that's what anyone who buys a lime-infused marinade would expect — and probably want. Although it's a lot better than the teriyaki, it's still not worthy enough to earn a spot on my refrigerator shelf of favorite sauces and marinades.
Planters Nut Mixes. NUTrition Energy Mix, and Berry, Nut & Chocolate Trail Mix. $5.49 per 9.25-ounce can of energy mix and $1.99 per 5.5-ounce resealable bag of trail mix.
Bonnie: Nuts are good for snacking. Although high in fat, they're rich in good unsaturated fats and contain fiber, iron, B vitamins and the antioxidant vitamin E. And studies have shown that nibbling 1.5 ounces of them a day — as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol — can help prevent heart disease.
While that is true of plain nuts, it's not necessarily true of nut mixes like these from Planters. You'd have to eat a lot of this pricey NUTrition Energy Mix to get any health benefits because of its additional ingredients such as honey-roasted sesame sticks and dark chocolate-covered soy nuts. It all adds up to more "energy," which is just another word for calories. I prefer an unadorned Planters Trail Mix with dried fruits like cranberries, raisins, cherries, mango, combined with roasted peanuts and chocolate. But if your main goal is warding off heart disease, a small handful of plain almonds would be much better.
Carolyn: If you were using common sense or taste to create a new nut- or trail-mix product, it would contain such time-tested ingredients as cashews, raisins, peanuts and M&Ms. It would not have the dark chocolate-covered soy nuts, walnuts and almonds in Planters NUTrition Energy Mix or the six (count 'em, six!) dried fruits in its new Berry, Nut & Chocolate Trail Mix. The latter includes two types of raisin and two types of cranberry and pieces of dark chocolate, all of which make this mix extremely sweet.
Planters obviously had a health-oriented agenda for these mixes — the NUTrition name says it all. Judging from their abundance in the ingredients, I'm guessing the goal behind this new trail mix has something to do with antioxidants.
Both are probably best purchased by people looking for specific health claims rather than good taste. (The walnuts in the energy mix are a much better cooking nut than a snacking one, for instance.) And the trail mix is probably as bad for your teeth as it is good for your heart.
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, and for more great food info, visit www.biteofthebest.com. © Universal Press Syndicate