Each year Carolyn Wyman and I — as the authors of our syndicated column Supermarket Sampler — present our prestigious “Golden Shopping Cart” award to honor the best new food product of the year.

In our newspaper and online column, we review literally hundreds of new supermarket products each year. For those who aren’t familiar with Supermarket Sampler: it’s a weekly syndicated column (now in its 23 year) written in two voices—mine, the registered dietitian, and Carolyn Wyman’s, a professed junk foodie, who touts the merits of Spam and other processed foods.

From the products we sample all year long, Carolyn and I select one that we deem tasty, healthy and on-trend.

Past recipients of the Golden Shopping Cart have included: Birds Eye Steamfresh, Eagle Mills All-Purpose Flour made with Ultragrain, Uncle Ben’s Original Long Grain and Original Brown Ready Rice and Lean Cuisine Spa Cuisine Lemongrass Chicken. If they seem familiar to you, it’s because each has also been selected for a FeaturedBite on this site.

The winner of our 19th annual Golden Shopping Cart Award — just announced today — is Ore-Ida Steam n’ Mash frozen Cut Russet and Sweet potatoes (also a Bite of the Best pick).

To read our full review, which also includes each of our top food picks of the year plus our combined “double forks down” rejects go to 12/28/08 on www.uexpress.com/supermarketsampler.