22 February, 2009

Florida's Natural Pocket Fruit

Florida's Natural brand is probably best known for their orange juice. If you watch TV, you've probably seen their ads where customers reaching into a supermarket cooler find their hands groping around in an orange grove until a tractor-riding orchardman hands the customer a carton of juice.

I didn't know that they were putting their name on other stuff, though - including these Pocket Fruits fruit snacks.

There were three flavors in the assortment bag that I bought: Blueberry, strawberry, and orange. Each piece was individually wrapped - great for throwing into a lunchbox or purse or even a pocket - and each was a fairly generous portion for a small snack (about 1.7 ounces.) The colors weren't anything to get excited about. Blueberry was kind of a dark reddish amber, strawberry was a light reddish amber, and orange was just amber. But the flavors really are something to get excited about. Each of them tasted very much like delicious real fruit. And, the thick chewy sticky ribbons of stuff gave my mouth something to work on (be careful of these if you have delicate dental work.)

I suppose it's also a plus that Pocket Fruits are USDA certified organic, though since they're still mostly pear juice, apple juice, and sugar like any other fruit leather, I don't really see how being "organic" makes them any healthier a snack than the equivalent portion of Batman-shaped Wild Blue Razz flavor "fruit snacks." Buy Pocket Fruits with your eyes open and recognize them for what they really are - a fruit-flavored candy - and don't kid yourself that they're any healthier or better for you than a handful of gumdrops.

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