Where I Purchased This Strawberry Banana Applesauce

I did purchase the retail version of the Zee Zees reduced sugar strawberry banana applesauce, which is a 4oz cup. The only difference for schools is that they use a 4.5oz cup.

I found a variety pack online here. I ordered the one that included the dreamscicle flavor, but they sent me the “original” flavor instead, so just beware. They do have a 24-pack of just the strawberry banana available here.

First Impressions

I get strawberry and banana go together, but it does sound weird to be in an applesauce. I guess it’s not really my first impression that matters though – it’s the kids’.

This product is part of Zee Zee’s applesauce line that they call “reduced sugar” because it only contains 3g of added sugar, compared to 7-13 in regular applesauce (and 0g in unsweetened applesauce).

It’s also the sister product to Zee Zee’s unsweetened strawberry banana applesauce cup.

I opened this one right after trying the unsweetened strawberry applesauce, so I was surprised to see such a drastic color difference.

Not only is the strawberry banana applesauce more red, it’s also more orangey than the plain strawberry. The unsweetened strawberry doesn’t contain any artificial colors, whereas the strawberry banana does, but I have to wonder if the banana is contributing to some of the color difference as well.

I personally prefer the pretty shade of pink of the unsweetened strawberry applesauce, but we know that kids like bright colors, so there’s probably a reason they do this.

Zee Zee’s features a character on each of its product packages. These little characters are designed to attract children to the product. While there is certainly evidence that this is effective, at least one study found that it is only effective for healthy foods when the children are familiar with the character.

This product features the character Tizmo.

Taste & Texture

It tastes just like strawberry banana. Surprise, surprise!

While I initially found the banana flavor to be more natural, the aftertaste does have a slight fake taste to it. It’s not very strong, like if you were eating a banana Runt, but you do get a hint of fakey banana.

The texture of the strawberry banana applesauce was pretty smooth, but not as smooth as some of the other flavors.

Ingredient Highlights

I’ll highlight just a couple ingredients here.

Sugar

Some of the products on the supermarket shelves, and even some of the foodservice products you find in non-school sizes, contain high fructose corn syrup. Whereas, Zee Zee’s likes to highlight the fact that they use cane sugar in their marketing.

First, I haven’t come across a school-sized applesauce cup (4.5oz) that uses high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). Some use artificial sweeteners (which Zee Zee’s doesn’t), but I haven’t seen one that uses HFCS.

Second, sugar is sugar. The difference between cane sugar and HFCS is negligible. The problem is less in the type of sugar that they add, but in the fact that they add it at all.

Apples are already sweet, so is the addition of any more sugar necessary? 

Red #40

This is an artificial dye. The research on artificial dyes is mixed, but there is a growing body of evidence red #40 in particular contributes to hyperactivity in some kids.

For parents, just be sure to pay close attention to your kiddos after they consume red #40. But keep in mind the environment they’re in – if they’re eating a red slushy at Disney World, they’re gonna be psyched to the point of bouncing off the walls. Who wouldn’t? Instead, pay close attention to how they react when red dye is given in a non-stimulating environment.

Schools are a little different. When you have a school with hundreds of kids, odds are, some of them are sensitive to red dyes. If those kids consume it at school, they’ll have a hard time concentrating, which is contradictory to our mission. We’re feeding them so they can learn in the classroom!

It’s difficult to avoid red dye altogether, but it is possible. Especially something like this when there are similar products without dye.

Nutrition Facts

Potassium

Pop quiz. Which of the following applesauce flavors do you think has the most potassium?

• Original
• Strawberry
• Strawberry Banana

Did you guess Strawberry Banana? Cuz you’d be wrong.

Yeah, I was surprised too.

The strawberry banana applesauce flavor contains the least potassium at 88mg, then strawberry at 91mg, and the original unsweetened came in at the highest with 135mg. 

Bananas do have more potassium by weight than apples or strawberries, so what’s the deal?

I’m guessing this is because the apples are cooked prior to pureeing. This concentrates them more, which increases its nutrient values, including potassium, to values higher than strawberries or bananas. 

Then the cooked apples are mixed with the pureed bananas and/or pureed strawberries, which lowers its potassium back down. 

The Daily Value for potassium is 4,700mg, so we’re talking about a difference of 1% – not a big deal.

School Uses

Since each 4.5 oz cup credits as a 1/2 cup fruit, this would be an option for the breakfast or lunch program.

Since it’s not at least 3/4 cup, it wouldn’t be a great pick for the afterschool snack program, unless you wanted to serve another 1/4 cup of fruit with it.

This product is commodity processable, so if your state allows you to process apples, USDA code 110149, you could turn commodity apples into applesauce.

Recommendation

Zee Zee’s has so many unsweetened, dye-free applesauce options, so I would choose one of those  rather than this one. 

They have a similar product that is unsweetened that I would recommend over this one.

Suggested Specifications

For school nutrition programs looking to procure this item, here is a suggested specification:

Applesauce, reduced sugar, strawberry banana flavor, 4.5 oz cup

Comparable Products for “or Equal” Consideration

• Peterson Farm’s #ASA10015
  • This one is unsweetened
  • However, it doesn’t contain any real strawberries or real banana
  • This one doesn’t contain artificial colors though.
• Zee Zee’s Unsweetened Strawberry Banana #3700
  • This one is also unsweetened.
  • Does not contain artificial colors.
  • Contains real strawberry, but not real banana – they use banana flavoring. I’m assuming the banana puree makes it too unpleasant of a color without covering it up with food dye.

Additional Descriptors to Consider

If you have good reason to narrow down your options for a strawberry banana applesauce, you could add the following descriptor to your specification:

must contain real strawberries and real banana

• This will exclude both alternatives listed above, but you need to be able to justify why that is important to your program.