Kellogg's Frosted Flakes Gold. $4.29 per 16.9-ounce box
Bonnie: Regular readers of this column know of my disdain for sugary children's cereals, especially those with little to no fiber. That said, I'd like to commend Kellogg's for its pledge made late last year to reformulate its products marketed to children younger than 12 to meet its "Global Nutrient Criteria" by the end of 2008 or else no longer market these cereals to kids.
The criteria specifies that a serving of any of Kellogg's kids' products will contain less than or equal to 200 calories, 2 grams of saturated fat, zero grams of trans fat, 230 milligrams of sodium, and 12 grams of labeled sugar (actually up to 12.4 grams by FDA rounding rules).
Kellogg's new Frosted Flakes Gold meets those criteria, and it contains 3 grams of fiber and 10 grams of whole grains (or a little more than half of one of the three whole-grain servings you should eat each day). I wish this cereal didn't contain an equal number of sugar grams, which makes it cloyingly sweet. But Kellogg's Global Nutrient pledge is a g-r-r-r-eat step in the right direction.
Carolyn: Frosted Flakes Gold makes me think any attempt to make Frosted Flakes nutritionally worthwhile is doomed to failure. That's not because Gold is so bad, but because it's so little like Frosted Flakes.
Both cereals do feature sweetened flakes, but in Gold's case the flavor is honey instead of sugar. Gold's flakes are also moist and chewy instead of light and crunchy.
Frosted Flakes Gold is sweet enough for kids, but is too much work to chew for anyone without the big teeth and jaws of a tiger.
Philadelphia 1/3 Less Fat Soft Cream Cheese. Plain, Garden Vegetable, Chive & Onion and Strawberry. $2.29 per 8-ounce tub. Also available in 12-ounce and 16-ounce sizes.
Bonnie: Philadelphia 1/3 Less Fat Soft Cream Cheese is Philadelphia Light by another name. A serving contains 70 calories and 4.5 to 5 grams of total fat (of which 2.5 to 3 grams is saturated), or one-third less fat than regular soft cream cheese.
The discontinued Philadelphia Light Soft Cream Cheese contained 60 calories and 4.5 grams of fat (of which 3 grams was saturated). Kraft says the slight change in numbers is due to a change in the milk/cream ratio to improve the taste. I say Kraft did a good job, as I enjoyed the Chive & Onion variety on a bagel topped with smoked salmon and never missed the fat. I recommend all the 1/3 Less Fat Soft varieties except for the Strawberry, as I loathe sweetened cream cheeses (and sweetened bagels).
Carolyn: Low fat is back as a health concern, judging from the trickle of new lower-fat food products, including this new Philadelphia 1/3 Less Fat Soft Cream Cheese. Philadelphia already offers a 1/3 Less Fat cream cheese brick, but a soft-spread version makes more sense for people concerned about fat and calories because its spreadability makes it easier to use less. But since Whipped Philly's airy texture makes it even more diet-friendly, why not a 1/3 Less Fat version of it, Kraft?
As for Kraft's claim that 1/3 Less Fat has all the taste of regular Philly: Logically, that doesn't seem possible. But the taste difference is so slight that the company might consider using this formula in place of, instead of in addition to, regular Soft Philly's.
Lay's Kettle Cooked Four Cheese Extra Crunchy Potato Chips. 99 cents per 2-ounce or $2.99 per 9-ounce bag.
Bonnie: I like the crispness of most kettle chips, so I looked forward to testing these new cheese-flavored ones from Lay's. Boy, was I disappointed! Instead of tasting like the crisp kettle chips from Madhouse Munchies or Kettle brand, these taste more like Pringles. And if I hadn't read the label that stated Four Cheese, I'd never have guessed the flavor. These chips instead are redolent of sour cream minus the chives.
Nutritionally, these new chips are similar to others, with about 150 calories and 9 grams of fat, but have additives (artificial colorings, flavorings and flavor enhancers, etc.) not found in either Madhouse or Kettle, which are the chips I'd recommend to anyone who must eat chips.
Carolyn: I have to agree with Bonnie about the flavor of this new variety of Lay's Kettle Cooked. They're called Four Cheese, but they taste as much of onion and parsley. (In fact, onion and parsley precede all the cheeses on the ingredient list except cheddar.)
This product's powdered flavor coating is also nowhere near as thick as flavored varieties of Frito-Lay's Cheetos or Doritos. But unlike Bonnie, I think these do live up to the bag's description of being "extra crunchy."
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 food info and chances to win free products, visit www.biteofthebest.com. © Universal Press Syndicate