I do love Smartfood, something about air-popped popcorn, lightly dusted with that cheese… I could eat bags of it! I’ve talked about the benefits of popcorn before, it’s actually not bad for you and is even a good source of fiber.. an enormously healthier alternative to potato chips and other friend snacks.
Smartfood Popcorn Clusters are another interesting introduction to the snack food world – a crunchy and mildly nutritious treat from snack-makers Frito-Lay. There are three flavors to choose from, all of which intersting and a bit addictive – Cranberry Almond, Honey Multigrain and Chocolate Cookie Caramel Pecan.
Frito-Lay touts these pouches as a ‘better-for-you’ snack, and they are (compared to your average snack food). The marketing, packaging, etc seems to be targeted largely toward women, as they really promote the fact that each little pouch contains only 120 calories while supplying a generous handful of popcorn/grain clusters. Many 100-calorie snack packs are just portion-controlled packages of the same old artificial ingredients, but one package of Smartfood contains ony two grams of fat, five grams of fiber and twenty percent of your daily calcium!
I have to admit that I really enjoyed the Cranberry Almond Popcorn Clusters though intially thought the Chocolate Cookie Caramel Pecan would be my favorite (they’re also good!). The cranberry pieces played well with the lightly-sweetened popcorn and the almonds were wonderfully flavorful, glazed delicately to the airy kernels. A perfect midday pick-me-up with enough sweetness to get you by. Not a ‘bite’, but a nice new snack product worthy of mention.
-bryan
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