What's in a name?

New from Kellogg's are two related products: Kellogg's To Go Breakfast Shakes (in bottles) and Kellogg's To Go Breakfast Shake powder mixes. Mr. Tidbit thought that the former sounded like Kellogg's own Special K Protein Shakes and that the latter might well be similar to Carnation Breakfast Essentials.

Surprising even him, he was right.

The nutrition panel and contents list of vanilla Kellogg's To Go Breakfast Shake are identical (not virtually identical but identical) to those of the French vanilla Special K Protein Shake.

The Kellogg's and Carnation powdered mixes, which are from different companies (Carnation is a Nestlé brand), nonetheless barely differ from each other nutritionally — with one exception: The new Kellogg's product has 5 grams of fiber and the Carnation mix has none.

At one discount supermarket, the box of 10 (1.26-ounce) packets of the Carnation mixes was $4.99 — 50 cents each, while a box of six 1.27-ounce packets of the very similar new Kellogg's mixes was $4.39 — 73 cents each. Both require the addition of an 8-ounce glass of milk (roughly 30 cents), so the price of the prepared drinks is 80 cents for the Carnation and $1.03 for the Kellogg's.

At the same store, a four-pack of 10-ounce bottles of the shiny new Kellogg's To Go was $7.49 ($1.87 each). The four-pack of 10-ounce bottles of the identical Special K Protein Shake, over in the vitamin/nutritional aisle, was $6.99 ($1.75 each). Go figure.

Mmmm! Ounces!

Bertolli has added a line of six microwaveable (or regular-ovenable, if that's a word) single-serving Rustico Bakes, with such offerings as Chicken Portabella Ravioli and Ricotta and Spinach Cannelloni.

Prices at one store very nicely reflect the number of servings: The skillet meals for two are $8.69 and the single-serving Rustico Bakes are $4.35 — just half of that. But the skillet meals are all 24 ounces — 12 ounces a serving, while the Rustica items average 10½ ounces. Mr. Tidbit won't hazard a guess as to whether a diner would notice the 1½-ounce short fill.

Al Sicherman