With over 40,000 products in the average supermarket, people don't have time (or the money) to test every product on the shelves – so we do it for you!

Each week we will post the latest reviews and I hope you will log in to see what’s hot…and what’s not!

Each product is judged and taste-tested based on the following seven criteria:

1. (30 points) Taste: The most important attribute of any food

2. (20 points) Value: Is it worth it?

3. (15 points) Health: Based off the nutritional information, is it nutritionally balanced?

4. (15 points) Ingredients: What's in it, how natural is it?

5. (10 points) Preparation: When applicable, how accurate or good are the directions?*

6. (5 points) Appearance: Is it appetizing and does it resemble its photo or description?

7. (5 points) Packaging: Is it appropriate for the product and does it have any benefits such as reseal ability, added freshness, better storage, etc?

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

Scarpetta Spreads and Dips Spicy Red Pepper

We love this company and brand, everything we’ve tasted has been excellent! And their new line of spreads and dips is no exception. This flavor, the spicy red pepper, succeeds admirably, it is 100% vegetarian, dairy, gluten free, low sodium and tastes great. Unlike a lot of dips and sauces on the shelves, there’s no sugar added and has a list of nice clean ingredients. We also found the crisp bite of the peppers (versus just pureed) perfect. This is a fabulous sauce for veggies, meat, fish, or to replace mayo in sandwiches.

NOT JUST FOR DIPS!
Imported from Italy.
Retails for $4.99/ 6.3 oz.

Manitoba Harvest Hemp Seed Butter

Although the hemp food world is still struggling to be able to grow hemp crops here in the US, we still maintain our position that hemp is simply one of the best ingredients available. Most hemp foods are made in Canada for now, and available in limited distribution, but they are worth trying. This “butter” has a pleasant taste, more savory than sweet, and is definitely a food you would eat for the health benefits of the omega 3’s. As with all 100% hemp foods, this product contains no herbicides or pesticides. As we tasted we were thinking how luscious spreading a bit on toasted cinnamon raisin bread would taste. The product is packaged in a black container which is not particularly attractive, but which will importantly, keep the oil in the product from becoming rancid.

Retails for $9.99/ 10oz.

Froose

Beverages for kids are a challenge. How do you add good taste with good nutrition and have kids begging for more? Guess the secret is adding a moose (as the spokesperson, that is)! Froose is an alternative to those high sugar juice boxes for kids, it is low in sugar, tasty without cloying and a terrific product to teach kids that all beverages don’t have to be overly sweet to have great taste. It contains 3 grams of fiber (made from brown rice) and inulin. Inulin seems to be the ingredient of the moment and is starting to appear in hundreds of products. Inulin is plant based polysaccharides (several simple sugars linked together) and is used to replace sugar, fat, and flour. It actually contains a third to a quarter of the food energy of sugar or other carbohydrates and a sixth to a ninth of the food energy of fat. Inulin also increases calcium absorption and promoting good intestinal bacteria. Nutritionally, it is considered a form of soluble fiber, but too much can lead to gas and bloating for some people. Inulin has a minimal impact on blood sugar, and is considered suitable for diabetics.

Retails for 75c for 4.23fl oz.

Glory Savory Accents Cooking Base Turkey

The aroma and flavor is as close to a real turkey that you can get. However one taste and you’ll see that there’s a bit too much spice and a bit too much salt. You could argue that a base should contain these to get thru the proteins and sink deep into the meat. The wide mouth jar is a quandary for us – since there are multiple servings we would rather see it in a tube to keep it as fresh and bacteria-free as possible. Label touts natural smoke flavor, but also contains other non-natural flavors. For the cooks out there…don’t’ give up your own base recipe just yet.

Grandma Hattie Pearl’s Live Sprouted Mustard Honey flavor

A new condiment with health benefits? These mustard seeds are sprouted, ground and then dehydrated at 90 degrees which puts them into a dormant state until reactivated when consumed; according to the company, the active plant enzymes have high levels of vitamins, minerals and nutrients – so this could be a healthy little boost to your sandwiches. It has a good, sweet flavor with much more emphasis on honey than mustard; we like that it’s organic and that they use agave syrup. The packaging is exceptional – unlike most flip tops it won’t drip and the slot shape makes for easy spreading on bread.