Pasta sauces slice calories, fat; Artisan spiced teas; Protein bar cuts alcohol absorption

Pasta sauces slash calories, fat

RAGÚ recently added three new pasta sauces to its RAGÚ Simply line: RAGÚ Simply Roasted Garlic, RAGÚ Simply Creamy Alfredo, and RAGÚ Simply Garlic Parmesan Alfredo. Crafted from simple ingredients such as vine-ripened tomatoes, carrots, bell peppers, zucchini, onions, and spices, the line delivers delicious taste without artificial colors or flavors, or high-fructose corn syrup.

The Roasted Garlic Red Sauce, like all RAGÚ Simply red sauces, is made with 100% olive oil and no added sugar. The two Alfredo sauces swap heavy cream for milk and cauliflower, making them a less indulgent option while still maintaining the same delicious taste and creamy texture of RAGÚ’s Classic Alfredo Pasta Sauce.

The RAGÚ Simply line retails for $2.19 per jar and is sold at select grocery and mass retailers nationwide, with the exception of the Simply Creamy Alfredo Pasta Sauce and the Simply Garlic Parmesan Alfredo Pasta Sauce, which are sold exclusively at Walmart.

Artisan spiced teas

American palates are eager to experience bolder, spicier flavors, which means more consumers are indulging in chai tea, a blend of aromatic herbs, spices, and black tea. Wissotzky Tea Co. is satisfying the demand for chai with its new Artisan Spiced Tea collection.

Artfully pairing hand-selected premium black tea leaves with market spices, herbs, and other natural ingredients, each blend is packed in a pyramid tea bag that allows for the perfect release of aroma and flavor.

Four varieties are available: Salted Caramel Chai, a sweet and savory blend of warm cinnamon, ginger root, cloves, sea salt, and cardamom; Ginger and Turmeric, featuring the earthy flavor of turmeric blended with ginger root, cinnamon, cloves, and cardamom; Spiced Nana Mint, a robust, flat-leaf Mediterranean mint complemented by cinnamon, ginger root, cloves, cardamom, and pepper; and Pumpkin Spiced Chai, a toasty balance of cinnamon and ginger with pumpkin pieces, cloves, cardamom, black pepper, and chili.

The Artisan Spiced Tea collection is available online, at supermarket chains, kosher food stores, and independent retailers for a suggested retail price of $4.99 per 16-serving box.

Protein bar cuts alcohol absorption

Zeno Functional Foods, the brainchild of physician and medical scientist Joseph Fisher, recently launched SOBAR, a low-calorie protein bar and the world’s first food specifically formulated to reduce alcohol absorption.

Developed to help address the negative influence of alcohol on global health outcomes, SOBAR packs 20 grams of protein and 210 calories into each bar and exhibits profound effects on peak blood alcohol levels and total alcohol bioavailability. In a clinical trial, the SOBAR reduced both parameters by about 50% if eaten prior to drinking two drinks over 10 minutes— twice the effect per calorie consumed as two control foods.

“Sometimes food is not available when you are presented with alcohol, and having a SOBAR ensures not only that you have food, but can eat a high performance food at the optimal time (5–15 minutes prior to starting to drink) for maximal effect,” says Fisher.

SOBAR is available in three flavors— White Chocolate Almond, Honey Peanut, and Caramel Macchiato—and can be found online for a suggested retail price of $27.95 for a 12-bar box.