From News of The Weird: Jelly Belly BeanBoozled

"A highlight of this year's Easter promotion by the Jelly Belly company (as additions to its 50 standard flavors) was its surprise BeanBoozled boxes, with odd tastes and non-standard colors. Although garlic beans, buttered-toast beans and cheese pizza beans are no longer available, connoisseurs can sample jelly beans made to taste like pencil shavings, ear wax, moldy cheese and vomit. A Jelly Belly spokeswoman told Newhouse News Service in March, "There are 20 flavors in each little box ... so you don't know what flavor you are tasting ... coconut or baby wipe."

Sources:

Cleveland Plain Dealer, March 22, 2008

News of the Weird,Chuck Shepherd, Column for the week of May 11, 2008

Food Network chef fired after resume fraud

Robert Irvine gets no sympathy from me.

Source: "Food Network chef fired after resume fraud", USA Today,March 10, 2008

Ice Cucumber Pepsi

Has anyone tried Ice Cucumber Pepsi ? I'd love to hear your opinion of it.

South Beach Diet Meal Replacement Bars

Kraft sent me coupons for their South Beach Diet Replacement Bars. So I decided to pick up two bars at Winn Dixie last night.

The first one I tried was Vanilla Creme. The package shows something similar to a long Rice Krispie treat with a vanilla coating on the bottom. Don't let that fool you. The vanilla frosting has very little flavor, save for a cheap anise-like aftertaste. The crispy part was very grainy. If you've eaten the powder from a box of Cheerios, that's what it tasted like. The label says those were soy protein crisps.

The second bar was Caramel Peanut Crisp. It was only slightly better than the vanilla bar. Upon opening the package, I smelled a pleasant aroma of caramel and peanuts [think Pay Day bars]. The crispies had an unpleasant burnt peanut taste. Those were only a little less grainy than the vanilla bar. Also, the peanut butter frosting had a smoother, more pleasant texture and a more pronounced flavor than the vanilla bars, but not by much.

Now let's check out the nutritional labels of the bars:
- Vanilla Creme = 340 mg of sodium and 15 % of your daily saturated fat
- Caramel Peanut Crisp = 350 mg of sodium and 13 % of your daily saturated fat

My conclusion ? Both bars were horribly nasty. They were overpriced at 2 for $5 without the coupon : P Skip the diet bars and pack a balanced, healthy meal in your lunch bag. Otherwise you'll find yourself licking the frosting off the bar and wishing you'd brought something substantial to eat.

Ice Breakers Fruit Sours

During my Christmas shopping, I spotted Ice Breakers Fruit Sours. I've seen the Ice Breakers tv commercials several times but never tried them.

What attracted my attention first was the bright green package. It was covered with pictures of the various flavors: green apples, tangerines, watermelons and pink lemons [pink lemonade]. The shape was similar to the old Bubble Tape containers I loved as a child. Also, the dispenser opened via "to share" and "not to share" tabs.

The candies are round, white discs with various colored speckles. The colors indicate flavor; however, those are very difficult to discern without dumping out the candy and sorting them into like colored piles.

The artificial scent of watermelon Ice Breakers overpowered the other flavors. In fact, my bedroom started to smell like watermelon candy after a few days [and I had the package closed after my taste testing !] As you may have guessed, I do not care for watermelon candy ! However, I tasted one anyway just to be fair. Bleh.

As for the rest:
- The green apple Ice Breaker was mediocre.
- The pink lemonade Ice Breaker had a distinct lemonade taste. I enjoyed it!
- The tangerine Ice Breaker was by far my favorite. My tongue was left with the sensation of eating a juicy tangerine. Thumbs up !

There's a downside to Ice Breakers Fruit Sours: the aspartame. After my first taste test, I had a horrible headache. I chalked it up to being tired. I had a second taste test the next day. The headache came back. That's when I realized there must be aspartame in the candy. A check of the ingredients list confirmed that. In the interest of fairness, I also tasted Ice Breakers Pomegranate Lemon-Aid Mints that day; both products contain aspartame.

My conclusion ? I won't buy Ice Breakers Fruit Sours again. The watermelon scent and the aspartame ruined this product for me.