Snack-Pack Showdown: Do Smaller Versions Taste Better Than the Original?

March 8, 2007 — -- You want that Oreo or those Cheez-It crackers, but you don't want to blow your diet.

Now many snack makers are marketing the "100-calorie snack pack" -- a smaller, lower-calorie version of the original.

ShopSmart Editor in Chief Lisa Lee Freeman says the snack-pack versions are not necessarily better for you nutritionally. They are still loaded with salt, sugar and fat.

The key, she says, is portion control. For example, two regular Oreo cookies are 100 calories, but you could fill a bowl with the 100-calorie snack-pack version called Oreo Thin Crisps.

But do they taste like the real thing?

"Good Morning America" and Freeman tasted some of the more popular snack packs to find out.

Oreos vs. Oreo Thin Crisps: Oreo Thin Crisps are called "baked chocolate wafer snacks," and Nabisco says they're not supposed to be the same as the original Oreos. People who participated in ShopSmart's blind taste-test put the Thin Crisps under the "not even close" category. One response? "You'll wonder who ate the creamy insides and left the crumbs."

Cheez-It Crackers vs. Cheez-It Right Bites:ShopSmart tasters gave the Right Bites a thumbs up, saying they were "cheesy good."

Ritz Crackers vs. Ritz Chips Minis Original: Taste-testers put the Minis under "not even close" category, saying that they are "missing that tender butteriness." Again, Nabisco made these as a completely different type of treat from its original cracker.

Hostess Cupcakes 14 oz. box vs. Hostess 100 Calorie Packs (7.75 oz. box): One problem, says ShopSmart, is the 100-calorie packs cost much more ounce for ounce. Both the big box and small box cost around $3.99.

In a live taste-test, however, "GMA" anchor Chris Cuomo gave them a thumbs up. He said of the smaller cupcake, "If I could eat six of these to one of these [original cupcake], I'll take these any day!"