Strawberry Jam

Test date: July 2010

Tester: Michele

Products for this test puchased at Fred Meyer, Albertsons, Whole Foods, and Trader Joe's.

MICHELE'S OPINION: There are a lot of subtle differences in these products, but the one that I remembered after tasting them all is the Bonne Maman product. There just a little something extra to it that is delicious. All of the 'fancier' products, such as Hero and Favorit, were also good, but to tell you the truth the Smuckers regular strawberry preserves held its own against those higher-end products. Unfortunately, the fact that it includes corn syrup is a bit of a turnoff. The only ones I wouldn't purchase again are any of the reduced or no sugar options - it's just not worth sacrificing taste to save on a few calories. Also, no need to splurge on your calorie count with St. Dalfour, which wasn't that much more amazing than the other options. Read on for more details:

PRICE COMPARISON FOR 10OZ OF JAM:

$4.53 Fred Meyer Bonne Maman

$3.99 Whole Foods St. Dalfours

$3.84 Whole Foods Mediterranean Organic

$3.81 Fred Meyer Hero

$3.49 Whole Foods Cascadian Farms

$3.24 Albertsons Favorit Swis Preserves

$3.11 Fred Meyer Smucker's Organic Preserves

$2.89 Fred Meyer Smucker's Simply Fruit

$2.69 Trader Joe’s Organic Fruit Spread

$2.58 Fred Meyer Smucker's Sugar Free with Splenda

$2.50 Fred Meyer Private Selection Oregon Strawberry

$2.50 Whole Foods 365

$1.94 Trader Joe’s Organic Reduced Sugar

$1.93 Fred Meyer Smucker's Preserves

$1.71 Trader Joe’s Fresh Preserves

$1.60 Fred Meyer Welch’s Reduced Sugar

1. Favorit Swis Preserves Strawberry: This has a very natural, wild strawberry taste and has bits of fruit in it. It is very sweet and has a medium firm consistency.

2. Smucker's Simply Fruit Strawberry: This product has a firm consistency and a mild strawberry flavor.

3. Smucker's Sugar Free Strawberry Preserves with Splenda: This product has the consistency of jello and few to no fruit bits in it. It has an unnatural sugar taste and leaves an aftertaste of preservatives in my mouth.

4. Smucker's Strawberry Preserves: This has a medium firm consistency and large fruit chunks in it. It has a warm, for lack of a better term, almost roasted strawberry flavor.

5. Smucker's Organic Strawberry Preserves:  This product has a very firm consistency as well as fruit bits. It has a light, not too sweet, strawberry taste.

6. Private Selection Oregon Strawberry Preserves:  This product has a creamy consistency to it, with small and medium sized fruit bits. It is very sweet compared to the other products.

7. Hero Strawberry Fruit Spread: This product has a very natural, fresh strawberry taste and a firm consistency. Strawberry seeds from this product get caught in my teeth, in a good way. The strawberry bits are very firm and chewy.

8. Bonne Maman Strawberry Preserves:  This product has a medium firm consistency and few strawberry bits in it. It has a nice sweet flavor and is relatively creamy.

9. Welch's Reduced Sugar Strawberry Spread:  This product is frankly gross. It has a loose, runny consistency and a fake plastic taste. Yuck.

10. Trader Joe's Organic Reduced Sugar Strawberry Preserves:  This product has a firm consistency, just under that of jello. It does not have many strawberry bits in it. It has a grape juice-like flavor. It is not that flavorful compared to the other products.

11. Trader Joe's Organic Strawberry Fruit Spread: This product has a smooth firm consistency and an almost baked strawberry flavor. It is not very sweet.

12. Trader Joe's Fresh Strawberry Preserves:  This product has large strawberry bits and tastes like a natural product. It has a medium firm consistency and is not too sweet.

13. St. Dalfour Strawberry 100% Fruit:  This product has a fresh, natural strawberry taste, with a sight bit of tartness to it.

14. Cascadian Farm Organic Strawberry Fruit Spread: This product has a looser consistency and frankly an odd taste to it. It seems to be almost an orange flavor. There are good bits of strawberry in it.

15. 365 Strawberry Fruit Spread:  This is a very smooth product with no fruit bits in it. It has a slight flavor of alcohol, surprisingly, in the form of a faint hint of something like a light wine taste.

16. Mediterranean Organic Strawberry Organic Preserves:  This product has a very loose, creamy consistency and a really nice, not too sweet strawberry flavor.

NUTRITIONAL NOTES: (serving size: 1 TBSP) The bulk of these products have between 40 and 50 calories per serving, with Smucker's Sugar Free and Welch's Reduced Sugar at the low end with 10 and 20 calories, respectively, and St. Dalfour at the high end with 70 calories. Carbohydrate levels are directly correlated with calorie level, with 5g per serving in the reduced or no sugar options all the way up to 14g per serving in St. Dalfour. Most products have 12-13g per serving. Most of the products, in addition to strawberries, pectin, and some sugar, also contain citric acid. Unfortunately, the Trader Joe's Fresh Strawberry product and the Smucker's Strawberry Preserves also contain corn syrup as the second ingredient.

TASTE WINNER: Bonne Maman Strawberry Preserves