Haagen-Dazs Five Ice Cream. Brown Sugar, Coffee, Ginger, Milk Chocolate, Mint, Passion Fruit and Vanilla Bean. $4.39 per 14-ounce container.
Bonnie: With all the chemical-laden products I need to test for this column, it was such a pleasure to have to taste-test this new line of Haagen-Dazs ice cream. They're all modest in fat for a super-premium ice cream, chemical-free and, of course, delicious.
This new Five series of ice cream contains 11 to 12 grams of fat, or about 8 fewer grams than regular H?gen-Dazs per half-cup serving. And each flavor contains only five all-natural ingredients. What's not to like? Absolutely nothing. In fact, I like the mint flavor so much that I made it a FeaturedBite on my blog, www.BiteoftheBest.com. Just be sure to portion out some in a bowl and put the carton back in the freezer, so that you eat only one serving!
Carolyn:I never thought I'd live to see the day I trashed Haagen-Dazs. But here we are. Haagen-Dazs' new Five line is tailor-made for clean-label fanatics who may not realize that Haagen-Dazs' regular ice cream is already all-natural and that at least some of the regular flavors (including vanilla and coffee) also contain just five ingredients. These Fives have less fat and are a lot less creamy. They also have the dubious distinction of debuting Haagen-Dazs' new 14-ounce "pint."
To my mind, Five isn't even as good as Breyers' and Edy's lower-fat, lower-calorie and lower-priced ice cream, which is nevertheless a lot more of a treat. It must be all the extra texture-enhancing ingredients that the non-super-premium brands contain.
Five's flavors are distinctive and strong (too strong, in the case of the coffee), and quite unusual and gourmet (passion fruit, ginger and brown sugar). The brown sugar has chocolate-chip-cookie-dough-like hit potential, should Haagen-Dazs or some competitor decide to put some creamy fat behind it.
Sunsweet Antioxidant Blend. $3.99 per 5-ounce resealable bag.
Bonnie:Sunsweet's latest produce-aisle offering is a blend of antioxidant-rich dried blueberries, cherries, cranberries and plums (aka prunes).
As you may have heard, antioxidants have been linked to reducing the risk of everything from heart disease, macular degeneration, diabetes and cancer to the effects of aging. Antioxidants are abundant in beans, grains, veggies and fruit.
Antioxidants are currently given an ORAC score — oxygen radical absorbance capacity — which is a measure of the antioxidant's ability to reduce harmful free radicals. You'll find a chart of the ORAC score of the fruits in this blend on the back of the package. But interestingly, that score is based on fresh versions of most of these fruits, as dried fruits have yet to get an ORAC score. Dried fruits are good for you, but they are not as rich in antioxidants as a similar weight of fresh.
Dried fruits are also highly concentrated forms of fruit sugar: a quarter-cup of this blend contains 130 fruit-sugar calories. That's why I'd suggest using this as a topping for your morning cereal or yogurt, or adding it to a trail mix instead of nibbling it plain.
Carolyn:Sunsweet Antioxidant Blend is a tasty mix of sweet and tart dried fruits. As such, they make a more interesting snack than a bag of any one of its dried fruits.
I'd like to see these sold in single-serve packs, adorned with popular licensed cartoon characters — thus upping the chance kids might eat these instead of candy fruit snacks or chews.
Kellogg's FiberPlus Antioxidant Bars. Chocolate Chip, and Dark Chocolate Almond. $3.09 per box of five 1.2-ounce bars.
Bonnie:These new bars from Kellogg's hit several current hot buttons. They're rich in fiber, with a hefty 9 grams, or a third of the daily recommendation, in one bar. They're only 1 gram shy of providing half a serving of whole grains, and they're excellent sources of two antioxidants, specifically vitamin E and zinc. They also display an attribute that never goes out of style: They taste good.
Seriously, I was surprised how good these taste, especially compared to the badly misnamed Quaker True Delights bars we sampled recently. Those had similar fat and calories, with only 3 grams of fiber, no antioxidants and nowhere near the good taste of FiberPlus.
Carolyn:"New Kellogg's FiberPlus Antioxidant bars promote better nutrition in a great-tasting snack." How many times have I heard that? But this is one of those rare cases where it's true. Kellogg's FiberPlus contains fiber and antioxidants, and tastes like a dark-chocolate-covered Rice Krispies Treat. In fact, these bars are better than many bars that are being marketed on their supposed indulgence (including, Kellogg's own Special K Bliss bars and, as Bonnie wrote, Quaker True Delights).
I'm only afraid that the medicinal name will keep my fellow junk foodies away.
Bonnie Tandy Leblang is a registered dietitian and professional speaker. She has an interactive site (www.biteofthebest.com) about products she recommends. 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