Product Review - FruitaBü Organic Smoooshed Fruit Twirls

When juvenile diabetes runs in the family, a mom (that would be me) tends to get a little freaked-out, and slightly obsessed over anything that passes through their child's mouth. Refined sugar gets a very bad reputation in the house ... especially snacks with refined sugar.

But unless you've lived under a rock all your life, you are familiar with the fact that just about every single blessed snack has refined sugar as one of its main ingredient. How annoying!

So, when the marketing company for FruitaBü (by Stretch Island) contacted me and asked if I would do a product review for their all-natural, Organic Smoooshed Fruit Twirls -- well, I totally jumped at it. Natural? Organic? No added sugar?? You bet.

Can you imagine my excitement when a FedEx package arrived with samples of their fruit twirls? I ripped the box open, and opened a package, tasted it, and thought I had died and gone to fruit heaven. But, of course, the biggest taster was Hunter ... and let me tell you ... this child loves them! And this mom loves that they are good for him.

Here's the nitty-gritty facts:

~1 fruit twirl (roll) = 1 fruit exchange in a diabetic diet
~Celiac sufferers (gluten intolerance) can enjoy the fruit snacks -- it's 100% all-natural. There are no alcohols and/or vinegars included, and all of their flavor suppliers have provided them with written statements that there is no gluten in the flavorings used
~Nothing artificial is in these snacks!
~The complete line of FruitaBü's Organic Smoooshed Fruit help kids meet the USDA recommended daily allowance of fruits in the 5-A-Day program

Ingredient Comparison:

FruitaBü Twirls (grape flavored): Organic apple puree concentrate, organic apple juice concentrate, organic white grape juice concentrate, organic grape puree concentrate, organic apple, organic palm fruit oil, citrus pectin, natural grape flavor, citric acid, fruit juice for color, sodium citrate, acerola fruit extract (natural vitamin c), soy lechithin.

Fruit by the Foot (strawberry flavored, from General Mills): Grapes from concentrate, sugar, maltodextrin, corn syrup, pears from concentrate, partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil, carrageenan, citric acid, acetylayrf momo and diglycerides, sodium citrate, malic acid, zanthan gum, vitamin c (ascorbic acid), locust bean gum, natural flavor, potassium citrate, color (yellow 5, red 40 blue 1) .

I love this product. The flavors are great and actually taste like the real fruit! The colors are natural. The texture is fun for my son, the product is all natural and organic, and the product comes in packaging that is convenient and compact enough for a lunch box, diaper bag, purse or pocket.

The only disappointment: The price. The FruitaBü suggested retail price for the Fruit Twirls is $3.69 to $3.99 for packs of six. In my grocery store, I paid $4.59 for a pack of six. But even with such a difference in price, I would still get them, because its a snack I feel good about giving Hunter. (I found them in the organic section of my grocery store)

All, in all, I'm giving this product 4 and 1/2 flowers, taking 1/2 off for the price, only. Go getcha some, and if you tell the company what you think of their product in a 10-minute survey, you will receive a coupon for a free box!