Taste Test: Whole Foods' 365 Organic Diced Pears
The problem with most fruit cups is the fact that they're generally way too sweet. These little snacks generally pack their fruit in a heavy sugar syrup with a generic "fruit" flavor, and lots of the time the fruit itself gets list in the mix. Whenever we eat one, we find ourselves just wondering why we didn't eat a piece of fruit in the first place.
Not so with the diced pears sold by Whole Foods' house brand, 365 Organic. These pears are packed in organic pear juice, and it's mercifully not too sweet. The texture and flavor of real pears is maintained, and it's no sweeter than biting into a real, juicy pear.
The ingredient list includes only pears, water, pear juice, ascorbic acid, and citric acid. One bowl contains 60 calories, no fat, 14 grams of carbohydrates, and 12 grams of sugar. By comparison, most mass-market fruit cups contain added sugar, bumping the sugar content up to around 18 and calories up to around 100. Interestingly enough, the "No Sugar Added" diced pears sold by Del Monte are packed in water instead of juice, and contain only 5 grams of sugar.
In summary, you'll most likely be pleasantly surprised by the lightness of this fruit cup, especially if you're used to mixed fruit in heavy syrup. Just be careful when you open it: that juice can get all over the place.