Fruit crisps
Whoever came up with the 100 calorie snack idea better be making some serious coin off this idea... because it's blown up everywhere! Through the Foodbuzz tastemaker program I was able to get my hands on some new 100 calorie treats, AND some "light" granola... hmmmm I'm pretty picky with my granola... we'll see what I think...
First off... is anyone else bothered by the typography for the product name? All lower case for fruit, all upper for CRISPS? What's the point, graphically it's not doing anything for me... Right, this is a food blog not a design blog... anyway the fruit crisps... whoever named these were spot on with the crisp part. MAN! The texture is delightful, totally light and crisper than I expected. The fruit center is definitely on the sweet side, but I still enjoyed them. PLUS you get two of them for 100 calories total. But that doesn't make these things healthy for you or anything... yeah they only have 100 calories... but look at the ingredient list... 1. enriched flour... 2. sugar... 3. glycerol... 4. vegetable oil... hmmm
I wont argue that they aren't tasty... so if you are looking for a better option than a vending machine run, these are a good tasty bet... But if you want a healthier 100 calorie snack... I'd go with a small apple and a dab of nut butter :)
Onto the granola! It does have a somewhat light airy crispy more than crunchy texture to it. Definitely liked the mouth feel of it, and I like the subtle honey flavor. Yet again the 2nd and 3rd ingredients are forms of sugar... *sigh* at the same point it has 7 grams of sugar per serving and a serving size is 59 grams... so that's only 11% sugar... which is actually rather good. How is it the 2nd and 3rd ingredients are sugar yet the count is so low??? Does that make sense to anyone else?? If it does please enlighten me :)
I had mine mixed in with some greek yogurt, tasty!
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I agree with you that just because something comes in a 100 calorie pack, doesn't mean it's actually healthy! Just a smaller portion of not-so-healthy highly processed food items! I like the idea that they're portioned out, so it will help keep some from overeating, but definitely better to have an apple and peanut butter, even if it's a few calories over 100!
Thanks for the reviews and calling out the nutrition facts!
I have seen quite a few bloggers review this product so far, and most say that the highly processed aspect makes the products unappealing. I totally agree! It bothers me that the company markets these products as "healthy" when they are loaded with a huge list of artificial ingredients. For a 100 calories, why not just eat an apple?
Yea, I think I'd go for an apple and a dab of peanut butter (ok, maybe more like a couple spoonfuls :)
yourt and granola is definitely a favorite snack of mine-- but the sugar! I know it's got a lot :( I agree-- an apple and peanut butter will keep me full for longer than those CRISPS (lol), even though they do look tasty...
Those fruit crisps just look like poptarts in a different form. I'd rather have an apple too!
I'm glad you posted these reviews! I'm not a huge Special K fan, but I could see myself wondering how those crisps taste while at the grocery store. I'll try to stick with more natural snacks, too, good thinking :)
I got those too! I haven't tried the granola yet... need to go out and pick up some yogurt or soymilk first. But I did have the fruit crisps... I got the strawberry ones, and I really liked them for a little snack. I think I'm not quite as health-conscious as you... so for me, just finding something that is 100 calories instead of having a bagel with cream cheese is good. I've been eating a packet of the crisps with a grapefruit each morning and it's kept me mostly full until lunch time.
My daughter always wants those 100 calorie snack packs and I keep telling her to just portion 100 calories of whatever and put it in a baggie. They're such a rip off when you consider the cost per ounce.
The granola also has High fructose corn syrup which just ticks me off royally. I avoid the stuff like the plaque. I haven't opened mine yet. I did like the blueberry crisps - I dunked them in my tea. yum.
The processed snacks are so filled with junk. I think you are right about sticking to an apple or something homemade. I do love granola in my yogurt.
I got to taste test these too this week! I stand where you do- the sugar content, lack of any whole grains and overall poor nutritional standpoint. Tasty yes, healthful, no. Id MUCH rather have an apple and nut butter :)
I like this review. It's obvious that you are health-conscious because you thoroughly analyze the ingredients of each product. However, I find it important to note that you calculated the percent of sugar in the granola by weight. This is certainly (and wrongly) how it is done with fat in meat and dairy products in the U.S., but it is much more informative to calculate the percentage of certain nutrients by the amount of calories.
Not to lecture. I'm just a frustrated nutrition science major that dislikes things calculated by percent weight instead of percent calories.
Ally thanks for the information about calculating sugar, I'm not a trained nutritionist by any means but always want to learn more! Do you have any links that I could read more about how to calculate % for sugar?? I'd be really interested to learn and share the information with my readers.
Thanks!
It doesn't even require a website. :)
Say the amount of calories per serving of granola was 200. You said there were 7 grams of sugar per serving. Multiply 7 by 4 (4 is the amount of calories per gram of carbohydrate, which includes sugar) to get 28 calories from sugar, and divide that by 200. There are 14% calories from sugar in this scenario.
When calculating for other nutrients, do the same thing. Here's some useful info:
Calories per gram of:
Fat - 9
Protein - 4
Carbohydrate - 4
Hope this was informative! Thanks for showing interest.
these both looks tasty! i may pick some of them up at the grocery for on the go snacking this week
Clearly the CRISPS part is capitalized because they want to emphasize that this thing is more crisp than fruit! I'd hope that something fruit-filled would have slightly more filling to pastry, but I guess then it wouldn't be as shelf-stable.
I like seeing you do product reviews. I'm pretty confident my review would be in line with yours but I probably wouldn't be able to admit they even taste good.
I posted the pad thai that I mentioned and just finished eating the last of the left overs. So delicious.
The poose cookies were great! I'm looking forward to baking with prune baby food. I also like that I can keep them in the freezer and can ration them slowly. Thank you.
Is that sugar on top? Calories never bother me. I just do some exercise and burn the calories for fuel. The bad about calories is when they are stored as fat in the body
ang thanks so much for the info! Any idea how the 2nd and 3rd ingredients are sugars... yet it's still so low?
katie- very true more crisp than fruit for sure!
out of the rabbit hole- if they weren't tasty I would have told you lol :) i'll check out the pad thai and so glad you like the cookies!!
eat healthy- very true calories aren't bad... it's just when you have more than you burn off that's the problem :)
I understand why people are saying things like "Have an apple instead!" or to portion 100 calories out of a big bag, but for some of us trying to lose weight it's not that simple. Sometimes it's worth it to have the controlling aspect of a small treat already measured out for you. Sure, it's not as healthy as an apple, but things like this make me feel like I'm having an actual dessert and less inclined to go ahead and eat a regular cupcake or something.
rachel you make a great point! These are perfect for a portioned controlled premade desert, I just don't like that they are marketing them like they are a healthy snack :) tasty treat for dessert for sure though! And you should check out my cupcake recipes... SO TASTY and no guilt!
I got those too! I haven't tried the granola yet... need to go out and pick up some yogurt or soymilk first. But I did have the fruit crisps... I got the strawberry ones, and I really liked them for a little snack. I think I'm not quite as health-conscious as you... so for me, just finding something that is 100 calories instead of having a bagel with cream cheese is good. I've been eating a packet of the crisps with a grapefruit each morning and it's kept me mostly full until lunch time.
I got to taste test these too this week! I stand where you do- the sugar content, lack of any whole grains and overall poor nutritional standpoint. Tasty yes, healthful, no. Id MUCH rather have an apple and nut butter :)
yourt and granola is definitely a favorite snack of mine-- but the sugar! I know it's got a lot :( I agree-- an apple and peanut butter will keep me full for longer than those CRISPS (lol), even though they do look tasty...
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