Category: Spotted on Shelves

For those of you looking to fill your brain with knowledge that will come in handy if you happen to face IBM’s Watson in a battle of answering trivia questions to determine whether the supercomputer takes over the world, David Klein is the inventor of Jelly Belly jelly beans.

You’re welcome, Planet Earth.

Although Mr. Klein is no longer at Jelly Belly, he’s still creating candy and this week at the Sweets & Snacks Expo in Chicago he, along with Leaf Brands, will debut David’s Signature Beyond Gourmet Jelly Beans, which according to the press release, “is the first confectionary product of its kind: blending exotic cuisine and luxury candy.”

How exotic can jelly beans get?

Imagine chewing on jelly beans that taste like “the world’s finest and most exotic spices, herbs, roots, flowers, fruits, and nuts specific to world culture.” A couple of David’s Signature Beyond Gourmet Jelly Beans sets include “Tastes Around the World” and “Hot Peppers Around the World.” Oh I wish for a habanero jelly bean for me to chew on and then immediately spit out.

The jelly beans allow eaters to create in their mouth the flavor of complex dishes using different jelly bean varieties.

Finally, David’s Signature Beyond Gourmet Jelly Beans will also include a rare product that includes a “special blend” of the rarest and most exotic ingredients in the world, which will be enclosed in a 24-karat gold bean. All of that will be placed in a crystal jar. The price tag for these rare jelly beans and the packaging it comes in is set at $500.

Update:

Each pack of Mentos’ new UP2U Gum contains two flavors and according to the packaging it’s up to you to decide which flavor you’re going to choose to chew.

It sounds like a simple decision to make, but let me make it complex for you. Mentos UP2U Gum comes in four varieties: Daylight Mint/Mintnight Mint, Sweet Mint/Bubble Fresh, Berry Watermelon/Fresh Mint, and Mandarin Strawberry/Spearmint.

So you’re going to have to choose between those four varieties, but before that you have to choose which checkout line you’re going to wait in. Do you go with unfriendly male cashier who scans items quickly, but sucks at bagging goods? Or do you go with the talkative female cashier who asks you how you’re doing, but stops scanning in order to do so?

Once you pick a checkout line, which is where you’ll most likely find the Mentos UP2U Gum, you’ll then have to choose between the four varieties and you have to do it before the cashier rings up the people in front of you. Depending on what the shoppers in front of you are purchasing and whether or not you have a slow cashier, you have somewhere between 30 seconds to 4 minute to decide. You could buy all of them, but do you really chew that much gum?

Once you’ve chosen your pack, you’ve narrowed it down to two flavors, but I prefer to not think of them as flavors. Instead, I think of them as what your breath is going to smell like. What your breath smells like as you chew Mentos UP2U Gum could determine whether or not you get that first kiss, or whether or not your co-workers feel comfortable working closely with you, or it’ll determine if your grandma will kiss you on the cheek or mouth.

Good luck with choosing which flavor to chew.

Each pack of sugarfree Mentos UP2U Gum contains 14 pieces and will retail for $1.49.

Whenever I put a spoonful of sugar in my iced tea or a pinch of sugar on my cereal or a sprinkle of sugar on ice cream or dump half a box of sugar on the ground to attract ants so that I can burn them with the sun and a magnifying glass, I wonder if it’s possible to give sugar properties that go beyond rotting my teeth and making me gain weight when I consume it with my iced tea, cereal, and ice cream. For example, sugar with calcium or sugar with caffeine.

While Splenda isn’t pure sugar, it now comes in new varieties that have added nutritional benefits.

The new line of zero calorie artificial sweeteners is called Splenda Essentials and they come in three varieties. Splenda Essentials with Fiber offers one gram of fiber per packet; Splenda Essentials with B Vitamins has 20 percent of the daily values of vitamins B1, B5 and B6 per packet; and Splenda Essentials with Antioxidants contains 20 percent of the daily values of vitamins C and E per packet.

All three Splenda Varieties are available in 80-count boxes of packets and have a suggested retail price of $4.29. Splenda Essentials with Fiber is also available in a 1.6-pound carton and a 3-pound resealable bag and retail for $4.99 and $7.49, respectively.

Planters has done more things to nuts than male YouTubers with swollen testicles and temporary high pitched voices. They’ve dry roasted, lightly salted, honey roasted, chocolate covered, fruit blended, and nut mixed them, just to name a few.

But the one thing male YouTubers with swollen cajones have done that Planters hasn’t is crush their nuts. However, that has changed with the introduction of Planters Peanut Butter.

I’m not sure why it’s taken this long for Planters to come out with peanut butter. Unless Mr. Peanut is real and for years prevented it from happening because seeing peanuts being crushed into a creamy paste made him cringe like I cringe when I watch a video on YouTube of some guy getting hit in the nads with a golf club.

Update: According to Dave, in his comment below, Planters Peanut Butter isn’t new, they made peanut butter in the 1970-1980s. After doing a little research, I found this link to an old Planters Peanut Butter commercial.

Planters Peanut Butter is available in creamy and crunchy varieties, and will be sold in 28 ounce containers.

If Kellogg’s ever stops releasing new Pop-Tarts, I will be upset. I will get down on my knees, raise my hands towards the sky, let tears fall from my cheeks, and ask a higher power — the manager at my local supermarket — “Why!?!” It would upset me because Pop-Tarts, and my desire to forget about an ex-girlfriend, inspired me to start up this blog that clogs the arteries of the internet with reviews of foods you should always eat in moderation.

But, it looks like the Kellogg’s Pop-Tarts train is still rolling with their new Limited Edition Frosted Cherry Turnover Pop-Tarts and Wildlicious Frosted Wild! Strawberry Pop-Tarts.

Oh, in case you were wondering, Kellogg’s owns the Wildlicious trademark, so I would suggest not using it as a stripper name.

According to the Kellogg’s website, the Cherry Turnover Pop-Tarts consists of “golden, buttery crust surrounding cherry turnover flavored filling with a drizzle of white icing on top.” While the Wildlicious Frosted Wild! Strawberry Pop-Tarts are made with Pop-Tarts’ classic crust, filled with a strawberry filling with a tangy twist, and topped with bright pink icing, light pink icing drizzle, and green sprinkles.

One Limited Edition Frosted Cherry Turnover Pop-Tart has 190 calories, 3.5 grams of fat, 1 gram of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 1 gram of polyunsaturated fat, 0.5 grams of monounsaturated fat, 220 milligrams of sodium, 37 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber, 16 grams of sugar, and 2 grams of protein.

A Wildlicious Frosted Wild! Strawberry Pop-Tart has 200 caloires, 5 grams of fat, 1.5 grams of saturated fat, 0 grams of trans fat, 2 grams of polyunsaturated fat, 1 gram of monounsaturated fat, 170 milligrams of sodium, 36 grams of carbohydrates, less than 1 gram of fiber, 15 grams of sugar, and 2 grams of protein.

Both flavors are fortified with nine vitamins and minerals and available in boxes of eight.