Chocolate covered fruit has long been a favorite, but chocolate covered fruit as a health food is relatively new.
Ever since scientific studies revealed the positive effect on the heart it seems like chocolate makers everywhere have been trying to cash in. Now we have dark chocolate covered acai berries and blueberries from Brookside, on sale at Costo.
Or do we? A close look at the packaging reveals we have “fruit juice pieces”. And looking at the ingredients the actual fruit juices used are concentrates from acai, blueberry, raspberry, cranberry, pomegranite, elderberry and lemons. Brookside then thickens them up using pectin.
This is all well and good with me — those fruits are all tasty and make an excellent combination. But it’s probably missing some of the benefits of real dried fruit — natural fiber if nothing else.
The thing that doesn’t thrill me is the addition of whole milk powder and alkanized cocoa powder. The result is VERY BLAND dark chocolate. Plus the alkanization process and addition of milk powder significantly lowers any health benefits this candy might have offered.
The packaging claims one serving (40g or 180 calories) gives the eater 100mg of flavanol antioxidants. For a comparison, just one bag of tea gives 175mg of antioxidants….
All in all, this is a dessert with a decidedly weak chocolate taste. And despite the health-food look to the packaging, it is not especially healthy.
