Tidbits: Thin, flat, half-empty

By AL SICHERMAN, Star Tribune

Last update: September 23, 2009 - 4:52 PM

Print this story

Nabisco's latest is another version of Wheat Thins crackers. It's Wheat Thins Flatbread, long rectangular crackers (with a sprinkling of grains other than wheat), in Tuscan Herb or Garlic & Parsley flavors. Mr. Tidbit has several things to say:

First, be careful in comparing nutrition information: A serving of regular Wheat Thins is 16 crackers, weighing 32 grams, and a serving of Wheat Thins Flatbread is two (much larger) crackers, weighing a total of 15 grams. That's half the size of the serving of the regular crackers, so although the Flatbread's calories, fat, sodium, sugar, etc., per serving all look much lower, only the fat content really is.

As with virtually every new version of an existing grocery product these days, Wheat Thins Flatbread costs much more per ounce than regular Wheat Thins. The 5.5-ounce box sells for the same price as the 10-ounce box of regular Wheat Thins, so it's 82 percent more per ounce.

And, as often seems to be the case lately, the packaging seems designed to obscure the amount within, if not to be outright deceptive. The boxes are the same size, but while the regular crackers are loose in a bag, the Flatbread crackers are in a tray.

The tray might be needed to keep them from breaking, but the crackers are about 41/4 inches long and the tray has huge shoulders that make it about 63/4 inches long. It's in a bag that adds another 1/2 inch, and there's another 1/2 inch of empty space above it in the 7 3/4 -inch-tall box.

Again: Crackers 4 1/4 inches, box 7 3/4 inches.

AL SICHERMAN