Fiber not enough? Mr. Tidbit had thought that things in the breakfast-bar aisle had settled down to a battle over how much fiber each contains. He was wrong, of course, as was made clear by new entries from Quaker and Kellogg's.
Kellogg's new item is two flavors of Fiber Plus chewy bars, and on the front of the box the word "antioxidants" is almost as large as the name. The bars have 35 percent of the recommended daily amount of fiber -- the first ingredient (before even the rolled oats) is chicory root fiber -- and 20 percent of the daily amounts of antioxidants vitamin E and zinc (neither of which, Mr. Tidbit points out, is very hard to come by in a normal diet).
The name of Quaker's new bar (also in two flavors) isn't very clear. The only display type on the front of the box, under the words "Quaker chewy oat granola bars" is a box proclaiming "Fiber & Omega-3." These bars, too, contain 35 percent of the daily amount of fiber, plus 320 milligrams of ALA Omega-3 from flax (20 percent of the daily value of that apparently particularly healthful fat, which, for what it's worth, is a little less common in the food supply than vitamin E or zinc).
Antioxidant Jell-O Want antioxidants, but don't want extra fiber? You're in luck! How about getting them in tubs of prepared sugar-free Jell-O gelatin? Don't get too excited: The antioxidants in question are good, old vitamins A and E, and the amount of the daily value of each in a 4-ounce tublet is just 10 percent -- not exactly life-changing.
The antioxidant-enhanced Jell-O comes in two flavors: raspberry goji and strawberry acai. If you're up on your trendy nutritionals, expecting acai berries brimming with exotic life-affirming phytochemicals, and goji berries loaded with such antioxidants as zeaxanthin, don't get too excited about that, either. The acai and goji are just "natural and artificial flavors."
AL SICHERMAN
