We love to try new foods. Some are great. Some don’t measure up and some become staples in our kitchen. See what you think.
Say Ocean Spray and the immediate association that comes to mind are cranberries. The company is actually a cooperative of growers that began in 1930. Everyone is familiar with cranberry sauce traditionally served at Thanksgiving but cranberries can be eaten in many ways year round.
Craisins, dried cranberries, can be used as a snack, in baking or sprinkled on a salad, cereal or yogurt. A quarter cup of Original Craisins has 130 calories, no fat, 33 grams of carb (29 grams of sugar and 3 grams of fiber) and no sodium.
Craisins Trail Mix Cranberry and Chocolate has 140 calories in a quarter cup serving, 7 grams of fat, 3 grams of protein, 17 grams of carb (10 grams of sugar and 4 grams of fiber) and 50 milligrams of sodium.
Craisins Fruit Clusters are bite-sized snack pieces that can be eaten as is or used to top yogurt. We tried Cranberry Almond. A one ounce serving (1/8 of the package) has 120 calories, 3 grams of fat, 21 grams of carb (9 grams of sugar and 3 grams of fiber) and 30 milligrams of sodium.
Ocean Spray has introduced PACt, a cranberry extract water. Each bottle contains 80 milligrams of proanthocyanidins, an antioxidant found in cranberries. This compound is believed to have antimicrobial effects and may help to promote a healthy immune system and prevent urinary tract infections. PACt comes in 4 flavors – Cranberry Raspberry, Cranberry Blood Orange, Cranberry Passion Fruit and Cranberry Pomegranate. PACts are sweetened with a combination of erythritol (a sugar alcohol) and stevia (a plant-based sweetener).
A 16-ounce serving, 1 bottle, has 10 calories, 75 milligrams of sodium and 20 milligrams of potassium. Our tasters liked this new product.
