REVIEW: Nature’s Path Organic Toaster Pastries

Okay, I’ll admit it: When I was a kid, I LOVED Pop Tarts. My favorite flavor was Cinnamon Brown Sugar, and I can still remember exactly what they taste like: warm, gooey, and perfectly cinnamony. Obviously, I don’t eat Pop Tarts anymore, but every now and again I get a wicked craving for a tart here or there. For some people, comfort food means chicken noodle soup, or pancakes, or fried chicken; for me, it’s Pop Tarts. Despite the path I’ve chosen for my own eating habits, cravings for the sugary foods from my youth never truly go away, and I’ll probably always have to fight them.

Sweet, delicious toaster pastries.

So, you can imagine my intrigue when I discovered Nature’s Path Toaster Pastries sitting on the shelf at my nearest Whole Foods. They called out my name on our most recent shopping trip, and I found myself unable to resist. Determined to try them, I hastily tossed a box of the frosted strawberry pastries into our shopping cart, the childish excitemet already welling up in me. I normally eat things like Irish oatmeal and eggs for breakfast, so this was going to be an interesting (albeit sugar-laden) departure from my normal routine.

As Ted and I sat down to eat breakfast on the morning we had designated as Toaster Pastry Day, I worried that maybe I’d be disappointed. Pop Tarts, the real ones, were so good when I was a kid, so I was concerned that the Nature’s Path pastries would fall flat. The worst case scenario would be if they were just a lame imitation of the original, a sugary diversion that kids would instantly recognize as a fake. To my surprise, the pastries were good. So good, in fact, that my brain remembered those Pop Tarts of yore, sending me into a coma of satisfaction.

While I definitely wouldn’t recommend adding toaster pastries into your kid’s diet, this product could be a good substitution for those of you whose kids already eat sugary snacks. I compared the ingredient list for both the Nature’s Path Strawberry Pastries and Strawberry Pop Tarts, and there was a HUGE difference. Before I call Pop Tarts out for their abominable ingredients, here is the full ingredient list for the Nature’s Path version:

INGREDIENTS: Organic wheat flour, organic evaporated cane juice, organic evaporated cane juice invert, organic palm oil, organic apples, organic whole wheat flour, powdered sugar, organic corn starch, organic vital wheat gluten, organic dextrose, organic strawberries, organic strawberry flavor, organic rice starch, sea salt, leavenings (baking soda, cream of tartar), organic honey, organic molasses, citric acid, organic rice bran extract, colored with betalains, paprika extract (from plants), organic vanilla flavor, algin, sodium citrate, monocalcium phoshate, whey protein isolate (milk).

You can see that it has a lot of sugar (19 grams per pastry), and some leavening and flavor agents. Not the best for your kids’ health, but certainly not the worst. Case in point is the ingredient list for Frosted Strawberry Pop Tarts, brace yourselves:

ENRICHED FLOUR (WHEAT FLOUR, NIACINAMIDE, REDUCED IRON, THIAMIN MONONITRATE [VITAMIN B1], RIBOFLAVIN [VITAMIN B2], FOLIC ACID), CORN SYRUP, HIGH FRUCTOSE CORN SYRUP, DEXTROSE, VEGETABLE OIL (SOYBEAN, COTTONSEED AND HYDROGENATED COTTONSEED OIL† WITH TBHQ AND CITRIC ACID FOR FRESHNESS), SUGAR, CRACKER MEAL, CONTAINS TWO PERCENT OR LESS OF WHEAT STARCH, SALT, DRIED STRAWBERRIES, DRIED APPLES, DRIED PEARS, CORNSTARCH, LEAVENING (BAKING SODA, SODIUM ACID PYROPHOSPHATE, MONOCALCIUM PHOSPHATE), CITRIC ACID, MILLED CORN, MODIFIED WHEAT STARCH, GELATIN, CARAMEL COLOR, PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED SOYBEAN AND/OR COTTONSEED OIL†, MODIFIED CORN STARCH, XANTHAN GUM, SOY LECITHIN, COLOR ADDED, NIACINAMIDE, REDUCED IRON, RED #40, VITAMIN A PALMITATE, YELLOW #6, PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B6), RIBOFLAVIN (VITAMIN B2), THIAMIN HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B1), FOLIC ACID, TURMERIC COLOR, BLUE #1. †LESS THAN 0.5g TRANS FAT PER SERVING

Okay, these have about the same amount of sugar, but did you notice the source? Corn syrup AND high fructose corn syrup are near the top of the list, two ingredients becoming notorious for today’s childhood obesity problem. (To read articles about corn syrup and its link to obesity, click here. Also, read this, and here’s the ultimate authority on the matter.) There’s also the matter of the fats in this product: hydrogenated cottonseed oil, partially hydrogenated soybean and/or cottonseed oil? Apparently this works out to less than a gram of Trans fat per serving, but hello? YOU’RE NOT SUPPOSED TO EAT TRANS FATS. Nevermind the fact that a hydrogenated or partially hydrogenated long-chain polyunsaturated fat will cause you a whole lotta problems. And then there’s Red #40 and the other food colorings…

I think my brain just exploded.

If your kids love Pop Tarts, switch them over to Nature’s Path Toaster Pastries. They’re delicious, they use organic ingredients, and the sugar in these products takes the form of organic evaporated cane juice. Oh, and also? They contain real fruit. I can promise you that I may occasionally partake of their Cinnamon Brown Sugar flavor… You know, for old time’s sake.