Bonnie: When my friends who have celiac disease visit, I try to serve only products that are gluten-free.

That means if I’m simmering food in beer, I do so in a gluten-free brew; I serve rice instead of pasta and always have rice crackers for my cheese platters.

I’ve tried and like all varieties of KA-ME regular rice crackers — they’re very tasty. I especially like their spicy wasabi! My problem with them is that the crackers lose their crispness quickly and I end up tossing half a package. KA-ME now makes 90-calorie packs of mini rice crackers. Those are tasty and solve the sogginess issue.

But that sogginess also does not happen as quickly with the Brown Rice Crisps, which I find even tastier.

Although they come in four flavors, I really like KA-ME Original Brown Rice Crisps. They are crisp (pun intended), made from brown rice flour and are nutritious. Half a package (who would eat that many?) contains only 221 calories, 4 grams total fat and 2 grams fiber.

I suggest these as an all-around cracker for your cheese board whether you need a gluten-free cracker or not.

Bryan: Anybody reading this who had a nutrition-focused mother will surely understand and enjoy this product. If you had a registered dietitian packing your school lunches as a kid (as I did), or even just a health-conscious parent, you’ve likely tried a rice cake before. C’mon, we all remember them — maybe smeared with peanut butter, maybe topped with a bit of cheese or honey. They kinda tasted like Styrofoam, but were oddly addictive nonetheless. The comfort found in the absence of any substantive or intense flavor almost acted as protective conditioning from other unhealthy snacks, inevitably far too over-stimulating following the subtlety of the rice cake. Common child-fatteners like cheese puffs and salted corn chips were too much for me after being weaned on Quaker rice cakes….

Another, healthier culture has also been enjoying rice snacks for centuries. Japanese rice-based crackers, also known as sembei, are the most popular form of traditional snacks. KA-ME Brown Rice Crisps take up this mantle and include four different (and also addictive) varieties, blending traditional Japanese spices and other Asian contemporary flavorings: Original, Szechuan, Teriyaki and Korean Barbecue.

KA-ME is literally translated as “turtle,” an animal that remains a symbol of permanence and traditions in Japanese culture. KA-ME has stood as a quality producer of authentic Asian culinary products for more than 25 years, and they continue to adhere to the Epicurean philosophies and cooking methods that have been practiced for centuries in Asia.

KA-ME Brown Rice Crisps simply are better for you than the most common snacking alternative, potato chips. An entire serving (53 grams) of crisps has only 221 calories (yes, that’s not a typo, 221). There are only 4 grams fat (6%) and 436 milligrams sodium (18%), though the salt is coupled with 2 grams of dietary fiber (8%) as well. Your average potato chip is going to have a serving size of only 28 grams, and will contain 180 calories and 11 grams of fat (16%).

For a fulfilling (and not degrading) midday snack, I found the Original Crisps to be a great accompaniment to sandwiches, a perfect cracker for cheese and even a great dipper for guacamole. My favorite so far has been a dab of cream cheese and smoked salmon, but the crisps are also filling on their own. Look for something a bit different next time you reach for a snack. Try KA-ME and see what you think!

Eric: Although not a mainstream component of an everyday diet, crackers do play an integral role in most peoples daily snacking ritual. And why not? They’re small enough to take anywhere, combine well with most other food (i.e. cheese, meat, spreads) and are usually low in calories. The only problem with most crackers is that most of the time those calories are empty, providing you with the same amount of nutrition as eating a piece of paper.

KA-ME takes the cracker experience to the next level, focusing on a cracker designed around a principle of health. The cracker — or its “crisp” variation, as KA-ME refers to it — is created from whole grain brown rice and provides a healthy percentage of your daily protein, potassium, dietary fiber and iron. The KA-ME crisps are a great addition to a daily snacking regime and have started to find their place between the Ritz and Goldfish in my pantry.