Category: Spotted on Shelves

You know how some people say they were into a band before they got popular?

Well, I was into Popchips before they got famous. I liked these heated, pressurized, and popped potato chips before the magazine articles and appearances on television. I was into them when they were hardly in any stores.

Look at Popchips now. They’re all chic, have Katy Perry to promote them, and have a new line of tortilla chips.

Yup, the pop-happy folks over at Popchips have figured out how to pop tortillas.

Tortilla Popchips come in four flavors — nacho cheese, ranch, salsa, and chili limon.

Like all other Popchips varieties they contain nothing artificial, have no trans fat, and are gluten free. A one-ounce serving of Tortilla Popchips has 120 calories, 4 grams of fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 190 or less milligrams of sodium, 20 grams of carbohydrates, 2 grams of fiber, and 2 grams of protein. All flavors also have 190 or less milligrams of sodium per serving.

Update: Click here to read our Yoplait Simplait Strawberry Yogurt review

Here’s the ingredients list for Yoplait’s Strawberry Yogurt: cultured pasteurized Grade A low fat milk, sugar, strawberries, modified corn starch, nonfat milk, Kosher gelatin, citric acid, tricalcium phosphate, colored with carmine, natural flavor, pectin, vitamin A acetate, and vitamin D3.

That’s 13 ingredients.

I don’t think that’s a lot, but Yoplait is cutting that number in half with their new Yoplait Simplait Yogurt. The new variety is made from a combination of six ingredients, which include cultured pasteurized grade A milk, fruit, sugar, corn starch, natural flavor and a vegetable or fruit juice or extract or pectin.

Yoplait Simplait will start appearing on store shelves this month and come in four flavors — strawberry, vanilla, peach, and blackberry. The six-ingredient yogurt will be available in six-ounce containers, have a suggested retail price of 90 cents, and provide seven grams of protein.

Seven grams?

So if I workout, maybe eating Yoplait Simplait will help make me sexait.

Here are some new products found on store shelves by us and your fellow readers. We may or may not review them, but we’d like to let you know what new items are popping up. We’ll also occasionally throw in an unusual product.

Oh yeah, 43 percent of our daily value of fiber! Fiber One Nutty Clusters & Almonds have a great nutty taste and if I eat too much, any sudden moves may make me accidentally fart in someone’s face. Forty-three percent may sound like a lot, but original Fiber One cereal provides 57 percent of our daily value of fiber. I really hope in my lifetime we see Fiber One break the 60 percent barrier.

Lean Cuisine Veggie Cuisine have been around for over six months, but only in select regions. I’ve been looking forward to trying them for the past six months, but they only showed up recently at my local Safeway. The fake meat used in the entrees are from a company called Gardein. I’ve tried some of Gardein’s products and I thought they were tasty, although they were also a bit pricey. These Lean Cuisine Veggie Cuisine entrees are also expensive. I hope they go on sale soon.

Simple Mornings? They probably won’t seem so simple if I’m trying to make them in the morning while getting ready for work. Along with Cinnamon Streusel, Simple Mornings also comes in Apple Cinnamon, Blueberry Streusel, Chocolate Chip, Triple Chocolate Chunk, and Wild Maine Blueberry.

Oooh, more meat-free frozen entrees from a company whose products I usually see next to the tofu at the supermarket and completely avoid. Along with the Bella Portabella Tuscan Chik’n and Amaz’n Asian Sesame Chik’n you see above, Lightlife also offers Ole Santa Fe Chik’n and Perfecto Penne Primavera with Meatless Crumbles.

It may be good for my prostate, but it sounds like it would be horrible for my taste buds. (Thanks for the photo, Canton!)

If you’re out shopping and see a new product on the shelf (or really unusual), snap a picture of it, email it to us at theimpulsivebuy@gmail.com with “Spotted” in the subject line, and you might see it in our next Spotted on Shelves post.

Update (11/5/2012): It turns out it’s on shelves now. Here’s our review.

The Limited Edition Milky Way French Vanilla and Caramel won’t be available until February 2013.

Yup, Mars announces new candy bars half a year before they’re scheduled to be released. What an awesome way to build up excitement, let all of us forget about it, and then surprise us again when they finally release it.

About two weeks after you read this post, you’ll probably forget it’s coming because, to be honest, the combination of French vanilla-flavored nougat and caramel is kind of forgettable.

The 1.72-ounce Limited Edition Milky Way French Vanilla and Caramel bar will have a suggested retail price of $1.09.

Here are some new products found on store shelves by us and your fellow readers. We may or may not review them, but we’d like to let you know what new items are popping up. We’ll also occasionally throw in an unusual product.

Over the years I’ve been jealous of Canadians because they have ketchup potato chips readily available. Sure, a few companies here in the States make them, but it’s not as if I can walk into almost any store and pick them up like Canadians can. However, the new Lay’s Spicy Ketchup potato chips, which have been appearing on shelves here in the United States, give me hope that someday all Americans can have easy access to ketchup flavored potato chips. (Thanks Peter for the photo!)

To enjoy the flavors of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cocoa Puffs, and Reese’s Puffs, I can either pour any of the cereals into a bowl and add milk. Or I can preheat my oven, make the muffin mix batter, pour the batter into the individual cups in a muffin pan, place the pan in the oven, wait a bunch of minutes while it bakes, pull the pan out of the oven, and let them cool before eating. Or I can have someone else make the muffins for me. (Thanks Adam for the photo!)

Also, if I want to enjoy the flavor of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, I can eat one of these Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal bars. Hey, General Mills! I’m still waiting for Cinnamon Toast Crunch flavored milk. Oooh, two Box Tops for Education! (Thanks Adam for the photo!)

To enjoy a birthday cake, I can either buy birthday cake flavored Italian ice. Or I can preheat my oven, make cake batter, pour the batter into a cake pan, place the pan in the oven, wait a bunch of minutes while it bakes, pull the pan out of the oven, let it cool, spread a layer of frosting on top of the cake, and then cut a piece to enjoy. Or I can have someone else make the cake for me. (Thanks anonymous person for the photo!)

SQUEEE!!! Hello Kitty hand wash!

If you’re out shopping and see a new product on the shelf (or really unusual), snap a picture of it, email it to us at theimpulsivebuy@gmail.com with “Spotted” in the subject line, and you might see it in our next Spotted on Shelves post.