Wheat Thins

What do The Colbert Report, Family Guy, a disbelieving Twitterer, a hiker stuck under a rock, and Wheat Thins all have in common?  They all are part of the new advertising launch of the new Wheat Thins made with 100% whole grain.

Stewie and Brian from Family Guy argue over how to say Wheat Thins.  Stewie says “Wh”eat Thins with his classic over-emphasizing the “wh.”  Stephen Colbert uses a “Sponsortunity” to mock Wheat Thins about its serving size, among other things.

The hiker trapped under the rock claims the sound of the crunch will rescue him and his dog.  Sure enough, the crunch is heard, but the helicopter rescue man, repelled down on a rope, takes the Wheat Thins box with him and leaves the hiker stranded with his dog.

The disbelieving twitterer tweeted, “hay crunch is calling I think the wheat thins commercials are uber fake,” and he is delivered a pallet of tasty treats by a yellow Wheat Thins mini-van.  Obviously, Nabisco spent some crunchy, crispy dollars on their advertising campaign.  Wheat Thins is known for its King Kong crunch and being baked, not fried.  Since 1947, Wheat Thins have been crunching some serious tude in the cracker market.

For me, a stay-at-home mom, a snack in a box is a serious must have to avoid a toddler meltdown.  Have you ever seen a hungry toddler?

My toddler loves the tasty treats.  And I have a box in the car along with about four rogue sippy cups, five diapers , (four clean, one dirty – don’t judge), a rotting banana peel in a plastic bag with other found compostable artifacts, and numerous other objects.  Anyway, I feel good about having them as a snack for my child because the sodium is relatively low, with 230 mg per serving and 90 mg of Potassium per serving.  No high fructose corn syrup is a nice bonus and, of course, 21 grams of whole grain per serving is good too.

There are 22 grams of carbohydrates per serving.  Remember, 16 crackers equal one serving and there are 31 grams per serving.  The ratio of carbs to fiber is very good.  There are 3 grams of fiber in each serving.   The ratio for Wheat Thins carbs to fiber is 22g to 3g.  10 grams of carbs per 1 gram of fiber is considered good.  5 grams of carbs per 1 gram of fiber is excellent.  Wheat Thins is between Good and Excellent for their carb to fiber ratio, so they get a Very Good.

Wheat Thins has 0 grams of Trans Fat, which is awesome.  Trans Fat is the bad fat.  There are 0 grams of cholesterol and the first ingredient listed on the box is whole grain wheat flour.

So, how many crackers does my toddler have to eat to get these nutrients?  16 crackers.  So, about four will certainly give you, me, or Dad a break from piercing cries that can register above legal limit decibels. It’s better than a lollipop by far and he eats them.  He’s picky.  If it isn’t peas, corn, or mac-n-cheese, he usually shakes his head and says, “a…no” with a quick emphasis on “No,” his favorite word.

I was asked to write a review and was delivered two free boxes.  As a family of three, we powered through the two 10 oz boxes pretty quick.  I bought another box for my official review, but that box got devoured too.

So, I recommend Wheat Thinsfor a couple reasons:

1. They’re healthy (for pre-packaged and processed food).
2. They’re quick and easy.
3. My toddler likes them and I can feel relatively good about him eating them.  There is only 4 grams of sugar in each serving.  So if your child eats four crackers, that’s 1 gram of sugar.

It says on the packaging “Wheat Thins Original Snacks have 21 g whole grain per 31 g serving.  Nutritionists recommend eating 3 or more servings of whole grain foods per day (about 16 g whole grain per serving or at least 48 g per day)”.

Do What You Do With Whole Grain is written on the back of the box with a hiker by a mountain stream.  Whole Grain is written in capitol block letters too with a picture of wheat.

Maybe they should have Lois shoving a Wheat Thin in Stewie’s face to curb his toddler meltdown.  Is Stewie a toddler?

Over 100 recipes were tested before getting the new 100% whole grain recipes just right.  I think they taste good.  My husband likes that they’re not dry.  But he’d snack on a tire if he was hungry enough.

There are 2 grams of protein in each serving (16 crackers), but I’m not eating Wheat Thins for the protein.  The toddler likes Greek Yogurt too, among his fab five list — corn, peas, mac-n-cheese, and anything that crunches, which now includes Wheat Thins and anything he can chew, mash in his mouth, and throw on the floor when his tummy is full.

The packaging carton is made from 100% recycled paperboard, with a sub print that says minimum 35% post-consumer content.

They cost $3.69 a box and are available at retailers nationwide.

There are a lot of varieties available, including Wheat Thins Original, Wheat Thins Reduced Fat, Wheat Thins Hint of Salt, and Wheat Thins Big.  They also come in various package sizes, including Wheat Thins Original 10 oz, Wheat Thins Original Family Size 16 oz, Wheat Thins Reduced Fat 9 oz, Wheat Thins Reduced fat, Family size 14.5 oz, Wheat Thins Hint of Salt 10 oz, and Wheat Thins Big 8 oz.

If I had to rate Wheat Thins convenience to prevent/curb a toddler/child meltdown due to hunger, it would get 4 out 5 stars.  For taste, I’d rate the new recipe 5 out of 5 — they’re crunchalicious. For health, I rate it 3.5.  Ideally, I’d bake them myself fresh, but I can barely shower some days so that ain’t happening.

You can learn more about Wheat Thins snacks at http://www.nabiscoworld.com/wheatthins or at www.facebook.com/wheatthins or follow us on twitter @wheatthins.

By: Megan Oteri

Megan Oteri is a stay-at-mom, writer, photographer, and toddler wrangler.  Follow her blog at www.memomuse.wordpress.com and on twitter https://twitter.com/#!/memomuse1