Pop-Tarts

As promised, for this post we compared Kellogg's Pop-Tarts (our favorite flavor, Frosted Cherry, to be exact), to the Great Value Frosted Cherry Toaster Pastries. So obviously, since we only compared one flavor, opinions may differ from flavor to flavor. Hopefully this will give you a general idea though about how the pastry part of each compares.

Price: Pop-tarts cost 50% more than Great Value Toaster Pastries. Our highest difference yet! Is the difference worth switching to the generic though? Keep reading to find out...


Ingredients:

Pop-Tarts: enriched flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamin mononitrate (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2), folic acid), corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, dextrose, soybean and palm oil (with TBHQ for freshness), sugar, cracker meal, contains 2% or less of wheat starch, salt, dried cherries, dried apples, leavening (baking soda, sodium acid pyrophosphate, monocalcium phosphate), citric acid, gelatin, modified wheat starch, caramel color, xanthan gum, soy lecithin, calcium stearate, vitamin A palmitate, red #40, niacinamide, reduced iron, natural flavor, red #40 lake, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), yellow #6, carnauba wax, riboflavin (vitamin B2), thiamin hydrochloride (vitamin B1), confectioner's glaze, folic acid, blue #1.

Great Value Toaster Pastries: enriched wheat flour (contains: niacin, iron, thiamin mononitrate (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2), folic acid), corn syrup, sugar, high fructose corn syrup, palm and/or partially hydrogenated soybean oils, fruit from concentrate (white grape, cherry), whey, glycerine, modified cornstarch, precooked corn meal, salt, leavening (sodium aluminum phosphate, baking soda), citric acid, natural and artificial flavor, potassium sorbate (a preservative), gelatin, color added (includes red 40), modified soy protein, vitamin A palmitate, reduced iron, niacinamide, pyridoxine hydrochloride (vitamin B6), riboflavin (vitamin B2), thiamin mononitrate (vitamin B1), folic acid.

Okay this is scary... Pop-tarts contain not one, not two, not three, but FOUR different types of sugar/sweetener. FOUR!! And the GV pastries are almost as bad with three different sweeteners listed. Do you think they could get any more sugar in there??? Of course this doesn't mean we're going to stop eating them altogether. :) When you crave a Pop-tart (or toaster pastry, whichever you prefer), you crave a Pop-tart... just remember the old rule of everything in moderation! 

Calories/Nutritional Information: The nutritional information is virtually identical.  Both Pop-tarts and Great Value Toaster Pastries contain 200 calories, 5 grams of fat, 160 mg of sodium, 16 grams of sugar and 2 grams of protein per serving (which is one pastry - so if you eat both Pop-tarts/toaster pastries in the package that's 400 calories and 10 grams of fat - yikes!). Pop-tarts have 38 grams of carbohydrates, while the Great Value brand lists 37 grams of carbohydrates, and the GV pastries also list 60 mg of potassium (GV brand products seem to list potassium as a standard procedure while other brands do not). Both the Pop-tarts and toaster pastries also contain the following RDVs of the following vitamins: vitamin A 10%, iron 10%, thiamin 10%, riboflavin 10%, niacin 10%, vitamin B6 10%, folic acid 10%.

Appearance: We thought a lot of pictures would be helpful in explaining the differences we saw in these. In general, as you can see below, the GV pastry was skimpier on the icing and the filling. The thickness of the filling layer (and the pastry overall) was the same (see second and third pictures) but the filling in the Pop-tart went closer to all the edges, while the GV pastry filling stopped well short of the edge (see last three pictures), leaving a lot of floury pastry with no filling. Also the filling in the GV pastry appeared to have a more gel-like texture/consistency (it's shinier and more sticky), while the Pop-tart's filling was a little thicker/more paste-like. Oh and it's kind of funny to compare these pictures to the pictures of the pastries on the boxes they come in. There's a lot of artistic license taken on the boxes!


GV vs. Pop-tart



GV vs. Pop-tart



GV pastry on the left, Pop-tart on the right - GV pastry has less cherry filling, more pastry

 

GV toaster pastry filling

  

Pop-tart filling

Texture/the chew test: As you can see from the pictures above, the GV pastry has more pastry and less filling. This wasn't a good thing in our opinion. The pastry part of the GV version became more sticky/gummy/pasty while chewing it. It's not uncommon for pastry or bread products to gets a little pasty and sticky when you chew them, of course, but the GV pastry took on a significantly more pasty or gummy texture while eating it than the Pop-tart, which we didn't really like.

Taste: We tested these both un-heated (how we usually eat them - like a cookie - since that's basically what they are, right?) and heated in the microwave (we're not a fan of toasting). On the pastry part, the GV pastry was more floury while the Pop-tart pastry tasted more wheat-y (the difference reminded us of eating a hearty multi-grain bread (the Pop-tart) vs. white bread (the GV pastry)). On the filling, the GV filling was a little sweeter and tasted more like fake-cherry flavoring, while the Pop-tart filling was more tart and tasted more like actual cherries.

Bottom line: Even though Pop-tarts are significantly more expensive, we're fans of Pop-tarts, so we're going to stick with the name brand version when the craving strikes us. If you like Pop-tarts, the GV toaster pastry just isn't going to cut it.

Frosted Mini-Wheats

Sticking with our cereal theme, today we compared Kellogg's Bite Size Frosted Mini-Wheats and Great Value Frosted Shredded Wheat Cereal. After all, who doesn't eat cereal (especially if you have toddlers who need a portable and non-messy snack to munch on when you're on the go)? Even if you don't have toddlers at home, we've found a lot of people are curious about generic cereals, since the generic versions seem so much cheaper than the name brand ones.

Price: getting right to the bottom line, just like the generic Cheerios, the generic frosted shredded wheat cost about 25% less than the brand name version. And for those of you who have really good eyesight (or a really big high-definition computer screen) and noticed in the picture to the left that we are comparing the 18 oz. size Frosted Mini-Wheats and the 24 oz. size Frosted Shredded Wheat Cereal, don't worry, we took the different sized boxes (price per ounce) into account when comparing the prices. Isn't that tricky, though? These were the sizes available on the shelf, and the boxes look like they are the same size, so if you weren't paying very close attention to the ounces written on the box you would think you were getting the same amount of cereal for the same price - each of these boxes of cereal were the exact same price at our local Wal-Mart. So keep an eye out for that before you dismiss the generic because it's the same price as the brand name version!
Update: while shopping recently we noticed there was a 24 oz. size Frosted Mini-Wheats (called the "value size" box) on the shelf. Not sure if we just missed this one before or if it was out of stock, but comparing the 24 oz. size price on both brands reduces the savings when buying the GV cereal to only 17%.

Ingredients: (almost identical)

Great Value Frosted Shredded Wheat Cereal: whole wheat, sugar, gelatin, reduced iron, niacinamide, zinc oxide, vitamin B6 (pyridoxine hydrochloride), vitamin B2 (riboflavin), vitamin B1 (thiamine mononitrate), tricalcium phosphate, folic acid, vitamin B12 (cyanocobalamin). BHT added to packaging to help preserve freshness.

Frosted Mini Wheats: whole grain wheat, sugar, 2% or less of brown rice syrup, gelatin, BHT for freshness. Vitamins and minerals: reduced iron, niacinamide, vitamin B6 (pyridoxine hydrochloride), vitamin B2 (riboflavin), vitamin B1 (thiamin hydrochloride), zinc oxide, folic acid, vitamin B12.

Calories/Nutritional Information: both versions had about the same amount of calories and fat per serving (the serving sizes were a tiny bit different so we had to get out our calculators again!), and, based on our calculations, the brand name version had slightly more potassium, carbohydrates, and protein per serving. The brand name version also had slightly higher concentrations of phosphorous and copper per serving than the generic version. We're not sure how much phosphorous and copper a person needs in their diet, but if that's important to you, there you go.

Appearance: unlike the Cheerios and their generic counterpart, which looked almost identical, the generic frosted shredded wheat looked very different from the Frosted Mini Wheats, as you can see below:


generic vs. brand name

 

brand name vs. generic, side view



and here they are side by side (well, up and down - we tried to put these pictures side by side but could not for the life of us get them to cooperate! Can a more experienced blogger help us out? Is it possible to put two pictures side by side?) We didn't label these because we were sure from the pics. above that you would be able to tell which is which (there are the same number of pieces of cereal per bowl, by the way, for a fair comparison):

So obviously the brand name shredded wheat chunks are bigger and more "airy" (there is just more space in them) than the generic. But there was something else about the generic version that we can only describe as a more "processed" look. The generic squares were more compressed and the shredded wheat strands thinner and in perfectly straight lines, while the name brand squares looked rougher and less put together/less processed. Have you all seen those cereal commercials talking about how when something is closer to its natural form (less processed) it's healthier? Apparently in the world of cereal, unlike the professional world, being less put together/polished is more desirable. If that's true that might be something to consider when you're deciding which type of frosted shredded wheat to buy.


Texture/the chew test: Although this seems weird, we agreed there was something more satisfying about chewing up the Frosted Mini Wheats. The extra airy space and bigger chunks made them crunchier and textur-ier (we're sure that's not a word, but oh well) than the generic version, and that made them more fun to eat for some reason. We did a milk test again, too, and again, cereal seems to turn to mush at the same rate, no matter the brand or particular texture and consistency. So no difference there.

and last but not least...


Taste: finding a difference in the taste of the Frosted Mini Wheats and the Great Value
Frosted Shredded Wheat Cereal was pretty much impossible. They both tasted like frosted shredded wheat. They had equal amounts of sweetness from the frosted part and wheatiness from the shredded wheat part. We honestly couldn't tell a difference in the taste.


Bottom line: getting the generic frosted shredded wheat is a good bet - you're going to get the same taste and nutrition for 25% less.... however, if you get hung up on texture, the generic version is never going to compare to the extra crunchiness of Frosted Mini Wheats.


Other blog stuff: please comment! Let us know if you agree or disagree, if you would like us to add other categories, and what foods you'd like us to compare next! We would love to hear from you. And even better than commenting, become a follower! Just click the link on the right side. Then you won't miss any of our comparisons. Which you wouldn't want to do, because who knows, maybe the next one will be the exact generic you've been itching to try!

Coming soon: peanuts, chocolate syrup, tortillas and more - stay tuned!