Product Reviews

Santa Cruz Fruit Sauces
www.scojuices.com
Review by Caroline Yoder

Applesauce seems to be present in every stage of life: babies slurp it as one of their first foods, kids gobble it up as an accompaniment to PB & J, adults love it for its nostalgia, and the elderly prefer it for "no chewing necessary" texture. With all that applesauce it's no wonder we sometimes grow tired of this appley goop.

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Lucky for us, applesauce is exciting once again. Santa Cruz Organics produces a wide variety of "fruit sauces." Using apples as a base, Santa Cruz adds a touch of the unexpected. Ever tried apple apricot sauce? How about apple strawberry? I hadn't either until I discovered these concoctions on a recent trip to Whole Foods. After sampling the apple blueberry flavor, I was hooked. All the fruit sauces have pleasantly short ingredients lists: just apples, fruit puree, and vitamin C. None of that sugar or unnecessary chemicals you might find in other brands. Each flavor contains about 60 Calories per half cup and provides 100% of your daily needs for vitamin C. All Santa Cruz products are organic.

Santa Cruz offers their fruit sauces in 23 oz. glass jars as well as in individually packaged 4 oz. cups. Although not ideal for waste reduction, the cups are perfect for throwing in the lunchbox on a busy morning. The jars are a better idea if you like to use fruit sauces in recipes—add a little kick to those applesauce muffins by using the apple raspberry variety.

Santa Cruz fruit sauces are also year-round. So when you're craving blueberries, but it's snowing outside, you don't have to spend a fortune to get that taste of summer. Grab a jar of apple blueberry sauce and transport yourself to the Fourth of July. Although it can't beat the real thing nutritionally, fruit sauce can deliver fresh fruit flavor.

Clearly Santa Cruz is doing lots of things right. Their fruit sauces are delicious and nutritious, organic and convenient. Pick up a jar or two, and you'll never suffer from applesauce monotony again.

Caroline Yoder is currently a student at Duke University, studying English and Psychology. She hopes one day to become a writer in the health field.

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