Fruit Crisps again New from Kellogg's Special K brand are two flavors (blueberry and strawberry) of Fruit Crisps -- what Mr. Tidbit would describe as smaller, thinner Pop-Tarts (but which the box warns "should not be placed in a toaster or microwave"). The name sounded familiar, so he checked the mighty Mr. Tidbit List of Stuff. Sure enough, in the summer of 2008, Nabisco introduced Newtons Fruit Crisps. Apparently neither outfit wanted to spell "fruit crisps" oddly enough to be able to trademark the name. (Mr. Tidbit would have gone with Fruit Krispz.)
Kellogg's Special K Fruit Crisps and Nabisco's Newtons Fruit Crisps are so similar that Mr. Tidbit has to wonder what in the name of all that is fruity and crispy is going on here. Each is about one-third the size of a Pop-Tart, consisting of a thin layer of gummy fruity filling (Nabisco's is Mixed Berry or Apple Cinnamon) inside a thin and (in both cases) surprisingly crisp crust. Kellogg puts two of them in a 0.88-ounce pack (Nabisco's is a 1-ounce pack). Both products come in at 100 calories per pack, each pack containing 2 grams of fat.
Special K Fruit Crisps do have a tiny drizzle of icing.
Less Fiber One General Mills has introduced Fiber One 90-calorie chewy bars, in two flavors. The six flavors of regular Fiber One chewy bars have 130 to 150 calories -- and 35 percent of the daily value for fiber. The new bars are much smaller; each regular Fiber One bar weighs 40 grams (1.4 ounces), these weigh just 23 grams (0.82 ounces) -- that's why they have only 90 calories. (That's also why each 90-calorie bar also has only 20 percent of the fiber value instead of 35 percent.)
Where he saw them, the boxes of five new bars have the same price as the boxes of five regular ones. So the new bars cost 70 percent more per ounce.
AL SICHERMAN