Atkins food products have changed a lot in the years I’ve been sampling and writing about them. Back in the day some were absolutely awful, like their original baking mix that tasted like chemicals. I’ll never forget how a few of their snack bars that contained so much sugar alcohol I spent a lot of time catching up on my bathroom reading, because the after-effects kept me there.
Not only did many of them taste bad, they were also overpriced.
But as time went on the flavors improved. The Atkins people may have oversaturated the market at first, but they seemed committed to improving their products.
And now we have their two latest low-carb products, and they’re the best yet. One is even a home run.
The real winner is the Atkins Advantage Café Caramel Latte Shake. Each single-serve 11-ounce can costs $1.87, and the serving has 160 calories, 9g fat (1.5 saturated, zero trans), 5mg cholesterol, 120mg sodium, 720mg potassium, 4g carbohydrate (2 fiber, 1 sugar, zero sugar alcohol) and 15g protein.
You also get 15 to 40 percent of the Recommended Daily Values of 24 vitamins and minerals.
I love coffee and caramel, so the flavor was extremely appealing to me. The texture is not thick like a shake; the consistency is more like skim milk. And did you see the amount of sugar alcohol? ZERO, none, zip, zilch. How did they do that? There’s only one gram of sugar, but it tastes sweet.
My only complaint is that it has a slight tinny taste, I suppose from the can it’s in, but that isn’t enough to keep me from buying this product. I like it, it’s healthy and as a breakfast replacement it kept me full all morning.
Atkin’s other new product is a Peanut Fudge Granola Bar. I’m not so much in love with this, mostly because of the nutrition numbers: 200 calories, 10g fat (5 saturated, zero trans), zero cholesterol, 150mg sodium, 17g carbohydrate (7 fiber, 1 sugar, zero sugar alcohol) and 16g protein.
I know the whole point of the Atkins weight loss method is low carbs, but that’s just too much saturated fat for one granola bar. Also, the chocolate on the outside doesn’t taste chocolaty, just sweet.
But keep’em coming, Atkins! You’re getting better all the time!
Becky Billingsley writes healthy grocery product reviews as Mrs. Good Food at [http://www.badfoodgoodfood.com]
