A Yum-Yum Taste Test

Forever and ever ago I ordered snacks from yumyumsnacks.com, in an effort to try a variety or natural and organic good for my family treats. When the box arrived it was a tasting feast! We opened one of every thing and just sat around and sampled the different products. The taste, the children liking the food the nutritional value and cost were all important factors in deciding if I'd purchase any of the products again. I spent close to $70 on the bulk variety of foods and saved $3.00 with a coupon from the yumyumsnaks.com, which isn’t exactly cheap. My thought process was this: Healthy alternative snacks for the kids that aren’t available in my town, great blog information for my readers and it saves me from having to buy the bad stuff at the store. Here’s the verdict on the snacks:

Healthy Valley, Peanut Butter and Strawberry Bars: My son tolerates these, my daughter won’t eat them, I love them and my husband won’t even try them. They’re 70% organic so that’s better than most of the bars out there and the box is over $4.00. I won't buy this particular flavor again.

My son is a gummy freak. Gummy worms, bears, you name it and he loves gummy stuff. I was excited to find these, Xtreme Fruits, so we bought a variety pack and the only ones he’ll eat are the Lemon ones, seen in the picture. They’re all natural, sweetened dried fruit and there’s no preservatives or artificial colors. $12 for 24 pouches but they’re a good alternative for my family. Personally, I don’t like them and neither does anyone else in my family but for my son I will buy again.

Sensible Foods Organic Dried Sweet Corn: These are organic and delicious. Tasted like popcorn and everyone gave them a thumbs up! Fat free too and I liked that. $10.25 for six of them but again, a healthy on the go alternative and the bags are big! I'll forsure give these another try!

These were my favorite but I’m not so sure they’re really any more healthy for me or the kids then the alternatives that I can get in the store. They say natural but they aren’t organic or anything special. They taste like cheese puffs but my hands didn't turn orange. I liked them and for a treat I'd buy them, if I can find them locally.

We tried the Seventh Heaven, of Grizzilies Trail Mix, and these aren’t cheap but addicting and amazing. Four small bags for $6.00 we were fighting for them! No artificial sweeteners and 6 grams of protein. A decent and delicious alternative! If you like trail mix they're worth buying!

These are hands down my favorite and my 15 month old daughter’s favorite. They melt in our mouth! Organic, no bad stuff what-so-ever and the cost is reasonable. Eight pouches for $8.50 isn’t all that bad. I found them in the box at our local health food store and the box was over $4.00. Another company whose site is well worth visiting, Late July Organics.

Immaculate Baking Company, Hunka Chunka Cookies: I ordered these for my son’s lunch and he’s addicted! I don’t seem them on the site anymore. You can still buy the Hunka Chunka along with the variety pack. I urge you to check out the Immaculate Baking company and their online store. They have a huge variety of yummy organic treats for the kids of all ages! Price doesn't matter for these because they are that good!

I was able to try a bunch of good products and for almost two months now, my family was able to continually have healthier snacks in the house. Not that we don’t right now but I wasn’t as tempted to throw in a bad for the kids snack while on a grocery run. Yumyumsnacks.com offered great service and it was timely and shipped in a recycled box, which I like to see. For those wanting to go bulb and have a variety, I’d recommend using the site. Finding healthy alternatives in a smaller town is hard to do. I have to say, it’s getting easier but I just keep requesting products and won’t give up! Remember we have a large amount of consumer power and need to vote with our dollar!!! I'd really like to see more of the Immaculate Baking Company and the Late July Organics in my local stores. I think moms should be choosing these two companies, hands down!

A organic label conundrum!

I ordered a large box of organic natural treats for the kids, like I said I would, and they have arrived!! We are in the process of taste testing them and so far so good. As I went from package to package and was reading the labels, ingredients and doing some comparisons with food I had in the cupboard I noticed some differences when it came to organic certification and the word "organic" and where it was placed. I have noticed this before and wondered, which means if I’ve raised an eyebrow, I’m sure you have to!

Let me break it down for you and if you want further information or you just don’t get it you can follow the links for more information. Mind you, this is just for the USDA organic seal of approval. To tote the USDA seal farmers have to produce organic food using particular approved methods that help the environment and they cannot use pesticides, hormones or synthetic fertilizers. When the food leaves the farm the process continues for the certification and the companies that process, touch, handle or manufacture the food must also follow the organic standards and rules. Does the USDA check this entire process and make sure the steps are followed? That’s a completely different post but I sure hope so.

The seal actually has four tiers or levels and I've rated them from Best to Okay:

BEST: 100% organic with the USDA seal means that all the ingredients and methods to get that food to the store are organic but the restaurant, store or market sells the produce does not need to follow the government rules for the food to be organic.

BETTER: Organic with the USDA seal means that at least 95% of the ingredients are organic. The other 5% can be whatever and this isn’t so good but better than nothing.

GOOD: Made with Organic (we’ve all seen these words) means that 70% of the ingredients are organic. Again, better than nothing but no seal of approval so the methods for growing, processing and making the food can be questionable.

Okay: No seal and no organic labeling on the front of the box means that less than 70% of the ingredients are organic but organic wording may appear on the sides of the box or product. Deceiving!

Marketing screws everything up with this word “organic” because the company can be approved organic and is allowed to use the word in its name or they can say made with organic flour, etc. It makes me go cross eyed but my Green and Clean mom advice is this:

1) Try to buy products with the seal because at least you know that 95% or more of the ingredients are organic.
2) It’s always best to try and buy local, if possible even if the food isn’t organic. It will be fresh and won’t have had to travel so far. Most local farmers can tell you what methods they use. If you can talk to the farmer and look him in the eye, it’s a good thing.
3) Try to choose organic foods that are from the list the “dirty dozen”. These are the foods that have the most amounts of pesticides on them and pose the biggest health threat.
4) Use your common sense and follow your gut.