New Products Hits & Misses for 02/16/2011

Ratings Criteria

With over 50,000 products in the average supermarket, people don't have the time, or the money, to test every product on the shelves and with 15,000 new products every year consumers need to know what's out there!

So Phil does the testing and the tasting for you and gives the product a rating out of 100 so you know what you can expect when you try something new!

SupermarketGuru does not sell the foods we review, nor receive any compensation from the manufacturers for reviewing or rating them.

Phil taste-tests and judges each product based on the following 8 criteria:

(30 points) Taste: The most important attribute of any food
(20 points) Value: Is it worth it?
(15 points) Health: Based off the nutritional information, is it nutritionally balanced?
(15 points) Ingredients: What's in it, how natural is it?
(5 points) Preparation: When applicable, how accurate or good are the directions *
(5 points) Appearance: Is it appetizing and does it resemble its photo or description
(5 points) Packaging: Is it appropriate for the product and does it have any benefits such as resealability, added freshness, better storage, etc.
(5 Points) Sustainability: Is the packaging biodegradable, is it wasteful, is the company endeavoring to offset their carbon footprint?

* products that do not have any preparation will have the full value of these points included in their total score

Glutino Gluten Free Pretzel Twists

83

Glutino is one of my favorite brands for gluten free products. Their new mini pretzels are delicious and crispy and they have the traditional pretzel taste. My one recommendation would be to add just a little bit more salt, but one serving already has 420mg, so maybe that is not such a great idea…These are imported from Israel and actually taste very buttery! Retails for $7.99 for 14.1oz.

Glutino
800 363 DIET
http://www.glutino.com

Scoring Breakdown:

No-oodle Ultra-Lite Primavera

85

This product is a HIT! I wish I had thought of this name – NoOodle – obviously it means not the ordinary noodle. These noodles are made from yam flour and lime, are gluten free and have a great texture and actually have zero calories. This entire package of NoOodles with squash, mushrooms, carrots, peppers and spinach is just 30 calories – so adding your own protein, whether it be chicken or fish is a good idea. It cooked perfectly, but to be honest, while the aroma was enticing, the food itself is quite bland. They need to add a little more spice and garlic. Remember that although this line is very low calorie, our bodies need a good balance of protein, fats and carbs. Retails for $6.99. for 10oz.

The NoOdle Company
N/A
http://www.NoOodle.com

Scoring Breakdown:

Bosco Milk Chocolate Bar

86

This product is a HIT! When I was a kid I had a stuffed toy cocker spaniel that I named Bosco – the reason was in those days Bosco was the leading chocolate syrup and their commercials featured a dog who looked like the brother to mine. Bosco is back, both in syrup and in this milk chocolate bar, with a nice clean flavor that tastes just like I remember the chocolate syrup – this is a fun treat. There is no aftertaste and no chalkiness that some milk chocolate bars have. One word of caution – the chocolate bar contains just sugar, but the chocolate syrup includes 3 different sugars including high fructose corn syrup. I know in milk chocolate it is not as important, but I would like to see the percentage of cacao on the label. Retails for $1.99 – 2.49 for 3.5 oz.

Praim LLC
800 970 9646
http://www.boscochocolate.com

Scoring Breakdown:

Health is Wealth Vitamin Coffee Ener-G Infused Mocha Latte Flavor

87

This product is a HIT! As you know by now, I love my coffee – so when this Ener-G Infused Vitamin Coffee hit my desk I was leery. One bottle contains 100% of most of the essential vitamins, including B12, which was just cited in the new Dietary Guidelines as a vitamin that people over 50 should be consuming more of. In addition to B12 it also contains ginseng and guarana. I am not a fan of the aroma, but the taste is actually very good and the coffee flavor is loud and clear. The ingredients lists South American coffee, but I would like to see exactly which country the beans are from. Just 3 grams of fat and 190 calories, but keep reading and you will see 37 grams of carbs. This could be a nice afternoon pick-me-up. Retails for $1.99 – 2.50 for 9.5fl oz.

Health is Wealth Products, Inc
N/A
http://www.healthiswealthfoods.com

Scoring Breakdown:

Asherah’s Gourmet 100% Organic Vegan Burgers

89

This product is a HIT! If you are looking for an alternative veggie burger check out Asherah’s. In a base of organic quinoa, this recipe is great tasting, just 5 grams of fat and 3 grams of sugars. The flavor is better than many other vegan burgers, but the texture (because of the quinoa) is a little different than the typical veggie burger - it is a bit coarser. Unlike other veggie burgers this one does not need to be topped with cheese and frankly I would just add some salsa, mustard or onions to top it off. Retails for $7.29 – 9.99 for 1 lb.

Asherah’s Gourmet
215 489 9815
http://www.asherahsgourmet.com

Scoring Breakdown:

Thank You

We hope you enjoyed this edition of

New Product
Hits and Misses

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New Product Review
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Product reviews are conducted by randomly selecting one flavor of a product and taking into consideration the information available on the package itself as it would appear in the retail environment. Information contained in advertisements or on websites is not taken into account for evaluation or ratings.

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