Natural Select Santa Fe Trail Mix is Good but Not Great

I'm constantly looking for something that I can snack on occasionally without blowing my diet entirely. I like nuts and sesame sticks so I decided to try a trail mix that I found while out shopping this past week.

It is called Natural Select. Although they had several flavors to choose from, I opted to try their Santa Fe mix. It comes in a 6 oz bag, which retails for $1 at Dollar Tree stores nationwide.

This trail mix has a mildly spicy barbecue flavor that is quite enticing. However, it isn't really made for anyone who doesn't like a bit of a kick in his or her food. While it isn't hot, per se, it does tend to bite back ever so slightly.

Ingredients include black pepper, Cajun corn sticks, chow mein noodles, garlic powder, green bell pepper powder, miscellaneous spices, onion powder, oregano, paprika, peanuts, red pepper, roasted corn nuts, salt, sesame seeds, sesame sticks, sunflower kernels, tomato powder, thyme leaves, turmeric and water. It also includes barley flour, beet powder, bulgar wheat, coconut oil, corn oil, cottonseed oil, peanut oil, potato flour, soybean oil, sunflower oil and wheat flour. Finally, it holds citric acid, partially hydrogenated soybean oil, sylox and TBHQ.

There are 6 servings in a bag of Natural Select Santa Fe Trail Mix. One-third cup equals a single serving.

There are 150 calories in each serving. Of that amount, 90 calories come from fat.

There is 10 g of fat in a serving of Natural Select Santa Fe Trail Mix. Of that, 1.5g comes from saturated fat. Natural Select Santa Fe Trail Mix contains no trans fat.

Additionally, there are 13 g of carbohydrate, 1 g of sugar and 340 mg of cholesterol in a single serving. This product is cholesterol free.

To the good, Natural Select Santa Fe Trail Mix contains 5 g of protein and 2 g of fiber. It also provides 6% of the daily-recommended amount of iron and 2% of the required calcium and vitamin C.

Natural Select Santa Fe Trail Mix contains peanuts and is made with equipment that manufacturer's peanut products. Therefore, it isn't safe for those with nut allergies.

The peanuts and sunflower seeds used in this product are from the USA, Canada or China. This mix is distributed by Greenbriar International, Inc., which is located at 500 Volvo Parkway in Chesapeake, Virginia.

Here is my summary review:

Taste: 4 stars. Natural Select Santa Fe Trail Mix is tasty if you don't mind a touch of spice.

Consistency: 2 stars. Unfortunately many ingredients included in this mix are hard and therefore difficult to eat if you have previously damaged or aging teeth.

Appearance: 5 stars. This dish looks as delicious as it tastes.

Freshness: 3 stars. Each package is marked with a "use by" date clearly stamped on the back label. However, I question its veracity given the consistency of some of the ingredients.

Nutrition: 3 stars. The raw ingredients of corn nuts, sesame seeds, sesame sticks, and sunflower kernels are relatively good for you. However, the additional flours, oils and spices added into the mix also kick up the calorie content.

Green value: 5 stars. The packaging is biodegradable.

Packaging: 4 stars. Natural Select Santa Fe Trail Mix comes in an orange, black, blue and yellow package with a picture of the forest and mountains in the background. Lettering is done in black and white. It is attractive enough but may not garner attention on its own.

Ease of storage: 5 stars. The package measures 8" tall by 5" wide and 1.5" deep. It can fit in a kitchen cabinet, pantry or drawer as well as a lunchbox, backpack or large handbag.

Availability: 2 stars. Natural Select Santa Fe Trail Mix is only sold at Dollar Tree.

Price: 5 stars. The cost is reasonable at $1.

Final rating: 3.8 stars. It's pretty good; just not perfect.

RATING SCALE:

5 stars - outstanding
4 stars - good
3 stars - average
2 stars - below average
1 star - poor