Review: Way Better Simply Sunny Multigrain Chips

Oh, how I love my local grocer. For no particular reason, every so often, they drastically reduce prices on certain items. Sometimes, I think it's just overstock. Other times, it appears to be a product they're trying to clear. Sometimes it seems that it's on super-sale because they're introducing it. That's how I tried the Way Better Simply Sunny Multigrain Tortilla Chips.

The company claims it sprouts the grains and seeds that compose its products, which allows our bodies to better absorb nutrients. While that's nice, I'm really interested in the fact that these chips have broccoli and radish sprouts in them -- and they still taste really good. The ingredients in these chips are:

Stone Ground Corn, High Oleic Sunflower Oil and/or Safflower Oil, Organic Sprouted Flax Seeds, Organic Sprouted Quinoa, Organic Sprouted Brown Rice Flour, Organic Sprouted Daikon Radish Seeds, Organic Sprouted Chia Seeds, Sprouted Broccoli Seeds, Pure Sea Salt

I can't help but notice the definite lack of "organic" in front of the first two ingredients, however, and I find that problematic, especially given the push to label GMO foods. Guess what can be GMO. Nonorganic corn. Yep.

But, that aside, the rest of the review:

These gluten-free chips have a tasty (though definitely multi-grain) flavor, in that's complex and there's not too much -- or too little -- salt. They're pretty sturdy, and conveniently square (nice for putting hummus or something on, especially if you're gluten-free).  I'd love to say that because they're multigrain I feel more wholesome or something, but let's face it, I'm eating chips. The second ingredient is oil. True, there's more complexity, and the website claims that a serving of these chips contains 420 mg of omega-3s. Great, I guess, but it's still a chip.

I can pronounce everything on the label, always a plus, and I've seen all the ingredients in their whole form--and you can still see some of them in a whole (germinated) form in the chips. I appreciate that. I also like the simple, uncluttered design of the bag and the way that it doesn't really look like a bag of chips, or at least it doesn't look like the bags of chips I buy with half-guilt. The bag isn't shiny and doesn't use bold colors. There's a pretty sunflower, so that I can feel more connected to nature as I eat my processed food. In other words, the package screams wholesomeness, which is good since a serving of these chips contains 11% of my daily fat intake.

But, they're good enough that I bought a second bag. It helps that my grocery store has them on sale for $0.48 a bag. That's beyond practically giving them away, especially as we move into summer, and especially on my very small budget. These products are also gluten-free and kosher, if you're wondering (but you can find out those details on the way better website).

Product Review: Food Should Taste Good Hemp Chips

My co-op is running a sale for the first two weeks of July on Food Should Taste Good Hemp Chips (but none of the other Food Should Taste Good products), so I decided to give the chips a try. I love the FSTG sweet potato chips best, but haven't disliked any of their chips so far.

The same is true for these hemp chips, which to be honest, are glorified blue corn tortilla chips. In fact, organic blue corn is the first ingredient, followed by high oleic sunflower and/or safflower oil, THEN hemp seeds, corn bran and sea salt. All ingredients I can pronounce. Pronounceable ingredient lists is becoming increasingly important to me.

The chips have a nice crunch, are about the same size as traditional tortilla chips (but a bit thicker than many commercially available brands), and aren't particularly salty.

Chip Relative to Picture on Package

But I'd have liked a little more...hemp flavor. Hemp has a distinctive flavor--if you've ever gone the hemp nut or hemp seed milk, you know what I'm talking about, a mild nutty taste (geez, this is true of so many seeds that it feels like a non-description). It's there, but subtle.

If you've tried FSTG products before, you should give these a try. And if you haven't...maybe try one of the more interesting chips first. They aren't, nutritionally speaking, much better for you than regular chips -- similar calorie counts, more or less fat and protein depending on the variety you pick -- but they are lower sodium, which is important for some diets, gluten-free, non-GMO, certified vegan and kosher, etc. And they taste much better than most traditional chips I've tried (and I don't think that's just a psychological result of the name). These are the reasons you should try FSTG chips. And, if you're bringing chips and dip/salsa for a party, the hemp chips, or most of the other varieties would be great (maybe not the chocolate for anything but a sweet dip? I haven't tried it, but the website indicates these are good crumbled on ice cream. Hm....)

Also, if you're in the "you can get high off hemp; it should be banned" camp, you're wrong. Technically, you could get high off industrially raised hemp, I suppose, but according to my research its bred to have an incredibly low THC level (this is what gets people high) in favor of being much more fibrous. The THC that is present on the outer portion of the seed can be "dabbed off with alcohol" or scrubbed off with a brush. In other words, you'd have to eat a lot of raw hemp. A lot.