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! (Points system explained below the products!)

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Pure Cranberry Orange Bar

Taste	Value	Health	Ingredients	Prep	Appearance	Packaging	Total
30	10	15	15	n/a 10	5	5	90

This product is a HIT!

I know, I know, another "bar", but this one is a bar with a difference. What I really like about this one is not only is it flavorful, but my jaw doesn't get a workout chewing it. The texture's great, the taste is great – and you don't realize you are eating 4 grams of fiber in this nutrient-loaded, tasty new product from Pure. I know "bar" is really the only way to describe this product, but compared to ALL the other bars out there this one is really different and worth a bite! Retails for $2.50 / 1.7 oz bars.

Pure of Holland, Holland, MI
888 568 PURE
thepurebar.com

Post Alpha-Bits Sweetened Oat & Corn Cereal

Taste	Value	Health	Ingredients	Prep	Appearance	Packaging	Total
26	19	12	12	n/a 10	5	4	88

This product is a HIT!

Post is to be applauded for creating a nutritional facts label that breaks the info into 2 categories: regular (1 cup) and children under 4 (3/4 cup). While Alpha-Bits still have 10 grams of sugar per full serving, it is at least just sugar and not High Fructose Corn Syrup. It's great that whole grain oat flour is the first ingredient. I just wish there was some way they could lose the "Hydrogenated Coconut and Palm Kernel Oil". The premise of this cereal is that it "contains nutrients that help support healthy brain development", which is great and it's great for kids to play spelling and word games, I'm just not sure if we should encourage them to play with their food, as Post does on the back of the package – and I gotta say it – what is with these cereal brands? Almost everybody now has a Ziploc closure on packages - when will the cereal companies get smart? Retails for $3.69 / 13.5 oz.

Kraft Foods Global, Inc., Northfield, IL
888 725 0288
postcereals.com

Earth Balance Natural Peanut Butter with Flaxseed, Creamy

Taste	Value	Health	Ingredients	Prep	Appearance	Packaging	Total
26	17	13	12	n/a 10	5	5	88

This product is a HIT!

I love the idea of a natural peanut butter that doesn't give you carpal tunnel while stirring the contents, and the aroma of this Earth Balance Peanut Butter is dead on, However, I do find that the recipe has just a bit too much flax seed which detracts from the peanut-y taste. The label's a little confusing, but I love that this company states exactly how many milligrams of Omega3s there are in each serving – 320! Available in other flavors. Retails for $4.49 / 16 oz.

GFA Brands, Inc., Paramus, NJ
201 568 9300
earthbalancenatural.com

Zatarain's New Orlean's Style Jambalaya with Sausage Complete Meal

Taste	Value	Health	Ingredients	Prep	Appearance	Packaging	Total
20	18	8	5	n/a 10	4	4	69

This product is a MISS!

Zatarain's is well known for their authentic New Orleans flavor, so I was excited to see this new "Ready-to-Serve Complete meal" – Jambalaya with Sausage. The instructions are easy: just tear off the top and microwave in the pouch for 60 seconds. BUT, a word of warning, the base of the pouch is really too narrow to be stable on a rotating microwave plate, so it might tip over. And that was the good news. The bad news is that the meal is way too salty, and a scan of the ingredients shows just about every artificial preservative known to man, with almost 1400 mg of sodium in just one serving. I know New Orleans is not noted for healthy eating, but come on ... this is a supermarket product. It's time for Zatarain's to pay attention to the way the rest of Americans are eating these days. Retails for $2.29 / 6.5 oz.

Zatarain’s, New Orleans, LA
877 837 3796
zatarains.com

Chex Mix Jalapeño Cheddar

Taste	Value	Health	Ingredients	Prep	Appearance	Packaging	Total
20	15	9	5	n/a 10	5	4	68

This product is a MISS!

It is a funny thing, but I had hoped that when I opened this bag of “Jalapeño Cheddar” Chex Mix that the aroma would be a combination of jalapeño and cheddar. Sadly, that is not the case, and the aroma and the taste more closely resemble over-spiced cardboard. The “burn” from the jalapeno rested more on the upper palate rather than adding any real flavor, but any snack that has 47 ingredients listed makes me wonder if this is the snack for me. And another thing: the label touts "65% Less Fat" on the front, with tiny letters stating "than regular potato chips", but these are NOT potato chips, they are crackers and crackers generally do have less fat than potato chips. Retails for $1.39 / 3.75 oz.

Betty Crocker, Minneapolis, MN
800 231 0308
bettycrocker.com

Points System:

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.

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More from Phil Lempert:

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