Inundated by Dove Mr. Tidbit might have been a bit too hard on Hershey recently, referring to the "flood" of new Hershey products. He hadn't yet seen the tidal wave of goodies from M&M Mars' Dove label. Included are these new Dove chocolate products (surely there are others; Mr. Tidbit grew weary cataloging them):
Dove Desserts, including Bananas Foster (flavored filling in packs of 40 individually wrapped little [8-gram] milk chocolate squares) and Tiramisu (in similar dark chocolate squares); 3.5-ounce flat packages each containing three individually wrapped bars, including Blueberry Almond and Peanut Toffee Crunch (both milk chocolate); and at least two kinds of ... Mr. Tidbit doesn't know what to call them. Both are nutrient-enhanced solid chocolate 8-gram squares, sold in packs of 40. One, milk chocolate with added calcium, "skin-nourishing vitamins C and E," biotin, zinc and more, is called Beautiful. Yes, it's called Beautiful. Another is dark chocolate with added calcium, "energy-releasing B vitamins," biotin, iron and more -- including soy sterol esters. It's called Vitalize. You'd think they could decide whether the names should be adjectives or verbs.
Mr. Tidbit notes that this is an odd way to pick up nutrients; most cereals provide as much or more of many of these vitamins and minerals.
Macaroni goes crackers The latest item from Kraft to catch Mr. Tidbit's eye is Macaroni & Cheese Crackers. It's in a blue box very like that of Kraft's popular macaroni and cheese dinners, but it's shelved with all of Kraft's Nabisco-brand crackers.
There are three flavors: Cheddar, Mild Cheddar and White Cheddar. What makes them "macaroni and cheese crackers," apparently, is that each is shaped roughly and colored very much like the bright-orange-cheese-covered macaroni in the Kraft dinner. There seems to be more cheese involved than in Nabisco's little-cracker-shaped Cheese Nips. But at one store, Macaroni & Cheese crackers cost almost exactly twice as much per ounce as Cheese Nips.
AL SICHERMAN
