Product Review: Uncle Toby's Fruit Fix

A while ago I was sent some boxes of the new Uncle Toby's Fruit Fix snacks to review. According to Uncle Toby's, these new snacks contain 99% fruit ingredients and are equal to one serve of fruit. Stephen has always been a great eater of fruit, and I am a firm believer in fresh over processed whenever possible, so I stashed them in the cupboard, planned to try them, and promptly forgot about them.

However, at the supermarket the other day, Stephen asked me for some Fruit Rollups. Given that I have never given him these (and am not planning on ever giving him any!) I asked him where he had seen them and he said that he had eaten than at Yia Yia's house (my MIL) and that they were really yummy! Hmmm, they might be yummy, and I don't mind him eating them at Yia Yia's, but I won't be buying a rollup of processed sugar, colour and flavours. Then I thought about the Fruit Fix, and gave them a try.

These are not flat like a rollup, but come as three little sticky sticks that pull apart, which Stephen liked. He also really liked the taste, and asked for another one. I tried some, and they tasted kind of similar to a rollup. They were not as sweet, and had more of a gel like texture, rather than a candy texture. Stephen liked all three flavours - Mango, Blackcurrant and Strawberry, but the Blackcurrant was his favourite.

Pros

99% fruit ingredients - depending on the flavour, it is roughly 60% fruit puree and 35% grape juice concentrate, with the other ingredients including fruit fibre, natural flavour, pectin, vitamin C, folic acid and sulphur dioxide.
a much better substitute to most other so-called fruit snacks
no artificial colours or flavours
source of vitamin C, folate and fibre
1 serve of fruit

Cons

contains sulphites, which can be a problem for those sensitive to them, especially asthmatics
although it is "natural" fruit sugar, this is still very high in sugars, so keep these as treats only
while it counts as 1 serve of fruit, you are not getting the full range of fibre, vitamins and nutrients that you would get from a fresh piece of fruit.

Overall, this is a great convenience product that would do well in a lunchbox as a treat. It is an excellent substitute if your children like rollups and other fruit snacks, but I would not use this as a replacement for fresh fruit.

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Labels: children, food, lifestyle, product reviews