Several weeks ago, I was craving for pineapple jam. When I got to the supermarket, I was a bit overwhelmed with the choices though. There were several brands and flavors of jams, jellies, and marmalades. I came there set to buy pineapple jam, but all the other similar products seemed yummy too. I think I spent more time standing in front of those bottled delights, trying to choose one, than thinking about the meaning of life.
It was a hard choice, but eventually I decided on Clara Ole Orange Marmalade because I realized that I hadn't tried eating marmalade before -- it had always been jam or jelly. (In case you're confused about their difference, jelly is made from the fruit's juice, jam from both flesh and juice, and marmalade includes fruit peels.) Clara Ole was the least expensive brand I saw that day, so I chose it.
Some marmalades have a bitter taste because of the fruit peels used and I wasn't sure if I would enjoy a bittersweet bread spread. Fortunately, Clara Ole's was sweet. According to wikipedia, British-style marmalades have a bitter tang while American-style ones are sweet, not bitter, so I guess Clara Ole's marmalades are American-style.
a closer look at the contents |
For the next several days, breakfast and merienda consisted of bread (pandesal or tasty bread) and orange marmalade. I was planning on trying another Clara Ole product but a relative of mine, seeing that I liked the orange marmalade, gave me another bottle. The one she got me was the sugar-free version.
In general, I don't buy sugar-free or diet versions of sweet stuff I like. I have several reasons, but the primary one is that I don't like the taste of sugar-free/diet food. But the sugar-free marmalade was already there and it wasn't going to eat itself, so I tried it. Even if it was labeled sugar-free, I was expecting it to still be sweet because it contains aspartame, a popular albeit controversial artificial sweetener.
The sugar-free orange marmalade was a let down. It tasted very bland, not sweet at all. I tried consuming the whole bottle but failed. Until now, weeks after, that bottle of sugar-free spread is still in the refrigerator, largely ignored. If anything, trying to eat it was a bit of a wake-up call -- I was reminded to eat sweet food in moderation, lest I develop diabetes and end up eating tasteless sugar-free food for the rest of my life.
Here are the nutritional info and ingredients of the regular and sugar-free versions of the Clara Ole orange marmalade:
Here are the nutritional info and ingredients of the regular and sugar-free versions of the Clara Ole orange marmalade:
regular (left) | sugar-free (right) |
I will still buy Clara Ole products, but I'm staying away from the sugar-free ones. If you're fine with or if you actually prefer non-sweet fruity bread spreads, then go ahead. They're just not for me.
True. Tried their strawberry jam before. The regular one was ok, the sugar free tasted yucky!
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