Zesty Tomato Fit & Active Cracker Crisps - Aldi: Cherry Hill, NJ
Zesty Tomato Fit & Active Cracker Crisps - Aldi: Cherry Hill, NJ
Okay, I have been playing with Adobe Premiere all day trying to edit more food related Youtube videos, but I've been having a few audio-related hiccups. Hopefully I'll get that straightened out, in the meantime, I have another snack from Aldi to review.
Every January stores advertize their healthier products in order to make a quick buck off of those of us who make health and fitness related New Year's resolutions. Aldi's no different. Although their Fit & Active line is available year-round, it's rather limited in it's offerings and it's variety, but in January there are always tons of new snacking products added in. The items aren't on the shelves very long, but I managed to snag a few of the savory treats to try.
First up, these Zesty Tomato Cracker Crisps.
My first thought upon seeing this was that the bag was pretty darn small. It's hard to portray it's size in photos, but it's maybe about 1/4th or 1/5th the size of a standard bag of potato chips. So the size is not all that impressive, but when you hold the bag in your hand you realize that unlike chip-bags, this is not filled with air. It's practically filled the the brim with crisps! That's pretty impressive. I guess the cracker-like chips are a lot sturdier than lightly fried potato-based chips, so they don't need that puff of air sealed in to keep them from being busted up.
As for it's design, it's not the best. Everything about this bag is muted. This color scheme is typical for items from this Fit & Active line, but for this particular product, it looks especially dull. Snack packaging is usually bright and eye catching, this could easily be passed by when compared to other unhealthy options, so it may function well, but I think it's appearance won't be wining over any new consumers.
Inside the bag are tons of these thin cracker-like crisps. Each crisp is about the size of a half-dollar coin, though it's a bit oblong and misshapen, and they are covered in a reddish-orange flavor powder.
Now I took a whiff when I opened the bag and the scent was kind of weird. These are meant to be tomato flavored, but they smell like a pepperoni pizza to me. Is my nose broken? There's something about this scent that undoubtedly reminds of of cured meats. It's not a bad thing, but it seems a bit off-base for a tomato-flavored snack.
After a few chips I was really pleasantly surprised. The cracker-like consistency gives them a satisfying kettle chip-like crunch, and the flavor powder lives up to it's zesty name. These are bordering spicy! The exactly flavoring is similar to a spicy tomato-based pasta sauce, and the spice-level builds with each chip you eat. These aren't marketed as a spicy chip, but they should be! I think they would have sold even better if they were marketed as such. The flavoring isn't as spicy as a Flaming Hot Cheeto, or Hot Fries, but it has a nice burn that hits you on the sides of your tongue, and the more you eat, the spicier they get.
As I said in plenty of my older posts, I am actually allergic to tomatoes, but it's an acidity issue, as long as I don't consume tomato sauce and actual tomatoes I am fine, so these chips give me that deliciously spicy tomato sauce flavoring without me having to worry about getting sick! It's a win-win for me.
If you like savory snacks with a bit of spice, these are great. I'd recommend these to anyone, and I'm sure if I put them out at a party they'd be gobbled up without anyone ever guessing they were a healthy food item. (Well healthier than fried chips anyway.) The only problem is that they are disappearing very quickly off shelves and I have no idea when they'll be back. If anyone at Aldi is reading this (which is doubtful) this is an awesome product and I would love for it to return, and I'd love to try even more flavors!
I am looking for them too! Was searching sites to see if I could purchase them online. No luck so far.
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