El Monterey: Chicken Enchiladas

Taste	Value	Health	Ingredients	Prep	Sustainability	Appearance	Packaging	Total
20	15	10	10	3	1	2	5	66

If you are looking for a tasty, salty, rice dish this is it - but if you are looking for an enchilada that is loaded with chicken you are going to be disappointed. This product will definitely fill the bellies of four people, but it is all about the cheese, the tortillas and the rice ... and while it does deliver 9 grams of protein per serving, most of that is coming from the cheese. Retails for $7.99 for 2.5 lbs

Ruiz Foods
Dinuba, CA
800 772 6474
www.elmonterey.com



Progresso Light: Italian Style Vegetable Soup

Taste	Value	Health	Ingredients	Prep	Sustainability	Appearance	Packaging	Total
20	10	11	10	2	0	3	51	57

This product is a MISS!
The lid on this difficult-to-open package cracked and coming out of the microwave the soup dribbled out - and it went even further downhill from there... While I understand that it is a light product it could still use a lot more veggies to satisfy. I am not sure who at Progresso needs a calculator, but their claims are confusing! The front of the package says 100 calories - but each serving is 60 calories - and the package says 2 servings - and each serving is a little over 8.6 ounces, but the package contains 15.25 ounces - and who thinks this is a serving for two people anyway? And while we are talking numbers this package contains 1400 mg of sodium! And see this zero Weight Watchers points? Think again - that is for one serving. The problem with so many of these 'light' products is all the companies care about is being able to say how many Weight Watchers points they contain - why not leave out the MSG, add more veggies, forget about points and think about flavor, satiety and nutrition? Retails for $2.59

General Mills, LLC
Minneapolis, MN
800 200 9377
www.progressosoup.com


Barney Butter: Crunchy Almond Butter

Taste	Value	Health	Ingredients	Prep	Sustainability	Appearance	Packaging	Total
29	17	15	13	N/A 5	0	4	5	88

This product is a HIT!
If you like the taste of almonds you will enjoy Barney Butter - this is one of the few almond butters that actually tastes like almonds and is not trying to taste like peanut butter. It might be a touch too sweet, but besides that, it is excellent. Reminder, almond butter actually has less saturated fat than peanut butter and even though the package says it does not need stirring, get out those free weights, you will have to stir this product a little. Retails for about $9

Barneys Premium Foods
Fresno, CA
559 696 2023
www.barneybutter.com



Home Free: Mini Chocolate Chip Cookies

Taste	Value	Health	Ingredients	Prep	Sustainability	Appearance	Packaging	Total
29	17	13	13	N/A 5	2	55	2	86

This product is a HIT!
The bad news is that the incidence of food allergies continues to rise - the good news is we are seeing more products coming out that are designed specifically for those who are afflicted, but you have to read those labels carefully to make sure that a particular product addresses the food allergy you might have. For example, while Home Free is peanut free, tree nut free, dairy free and egg free, it is not a gluten free product. These mini cookies actually taste very good and are nice and crunchy, but where is the zip-lock that is going to keep them crunchy instead of a plastic tray that is wrapped in plastic, that is in a box? Retails for $4.99

Home Free
Windham, NH
800 552 7172
www.homefreetreats.com



Lucini Italia: Tuscan Basil Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Taste	Value	Health	Ingredients	Prep	Sustainability	Appearance	Packaging	Total
30	16	15	15	N/A 5	2	5	5	93

This product is a HIT!
I am usually very critical of cooking oils, especially olive oils that do not make the grade. Lucini is the exception. Lucini with their new flavored olive oils has no competition. Unlike other oils that might consist of an infusion of herbs and spices that sit at the bottom of the bottle that you have to shake vigorously and hope for flavor, this olive oil uses essential oils instead. The Tuscan Basil has such a fresh aroma that when you open the bottle you expect a freshly crushed basil leaf to appear, in fact the exquisite taste and aroma of this oil makes you dream of a tomato and mozzarella salad to drizzle it over. Retails for $15.99

Lucini Italia
Tuscany, Italy
888 5 LUCINI
www.lucini.com

Our ratings have evolved!

More of our readers and viewers are concerned about the impact on our environment and of course the effect on agriculture. So, it's time for SupermarketGuru to meet that need and to take into account the important effect the entire chain of food production is having on our planet and ourselves.

As of this week we are changing our New Product evaluation scoring : adding 5 points for sustainability and subtracting 5 points from preparation; total possible score remains at 100 points.

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

1. Taste (30 points): the most important attribute of any food
2. Value (20 points): is it worth it?
3. Health (15 points): based off the nutritional information, is it nutritionally balanced?
4. Ingredients (15 points): what's in it, how natural is it?
5. Preparation (5 points): when applicable, how accurate or good are the directions *
6. Appearance (5 points): is it appetizing and does it resemble its photo or description
7. Packaging (5 points): Is it appropriate for the product and does it have any benefits such as resealability, added freshness, better storage, etc.
8. Sustainability (5 Points): 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 

More from Phil Lempert:

• More new product reviews
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