January is National Fiber Focus Month so in honor of that, I want to compare the original Fiber One 90 Calorie Brownie with their newer 70 calorie version. I happen to have the originals still on hand when my local Kroger started carrying the 70 calorie version. As you can see the color scheme for their branding changed a lot from browns to blues.
But how did Fiber One make each brownie 20 calories less?
Let's look at the nutritional information on each box.
There are three changes.
The first is that there is 1 gram less saturated fat in the 70 calorie brownies.
The second is that there is a sugar substitution happening with the 70 calorie brownies. 6 of the 8 grams of sugar in the original recipe have been replaced by 6 grams of sugar alcohols which our bodies process differently.
Interesting the lower calorie bar also has more protein and fiber but just a touch more.
When I unwrapped them they looked to be slightly different. The 70 calorie bar seems slightly larger but according to the box and to my food scale at home, they are the same weight. I think what we are seeing here is that the changes in the recipe have resulted in a fluffier brownie. The drizzles also appear to be larger, too. The overall effect tells our eyes that the lower calorie option is larger. That's actually surprising because the number one way to cut calories for most mass produced food items seems to be cutting the overall size or weight of the product.
How do appeal to my sense when I compare them? The Original has a sweeter but also a stronger chocolate scent. The Original is sweeter tasting but also not as dry as the newer recipe. The chocolate taste is stronger in the 90 calorie brownie but the sweetness builds up with each bite. The flavor of the 70 calorie brownie builds in chocolate flavor with each bite. If you like darker chocolates and cocoa, the newer recipe may appeal to you more.
I'm really surprised that the new 70 calorie brownie wasn't sweeter since a lot of sweetners are hyper sweet. The sugar alcohol is Sorbitol which may be an issue for some of you so I wanted to make that clear. The new recipe also also wheat, soy, milk, and egg in terms of common allergens.
Have you tried both Fiber One Brownies? Which did you like best?
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