Trader Joe's O's Organic Spaghettios vs Spaghettios

Time to compare and review some lunchtime favorites. I set out to see how the Trader Joe's version of Spaghettios (Trader Joe's O's) stacks up against the original in terms of taste, value and nutrition. I took the cost info from buying the SpaghettiOs at Meijer and the Trader Joe's can from Trader Joe's in Rochester Hills. The nutritional info is based on 1 serving size (1 cup).

                     SpaghettiOs        Trader Joe's O's

Cost:              99 cents             $1.49
Servings:         About 2 per can  About 2 per can
Calories:         180                    150
Total Fat:        1g                      1g
Sat. Fat:          0g                      0g
Trans Fat:        0g                      0g
Cholesterol:     5mg                   0mg
Sodium:          630mg                680mg
Total Carb.:     37g                    31g
Fiber:              3g                      less than 1g
Sugars:           13g                    11g
Protein:           4g                      6g
Vitamin A:       10%                    4%
Vitamin C:       0%                     4%
Calcium:          2%                     4%
Iron:               10%                   8%

SpaghttiOs Ingredients: Water, Tomato Puree (Water, Tomato Paste), Enriched Macaroni Product (Wheat Flour, Niacin, Ferrous Sulfate, Thiamine Mononitrate, Riboflavin, Folic Acid), High Fructose Corn Syrup. Contains Less than 2% of: Salt, Enzyme Modified Cheddar Cheese (Cheddar Cheese {Cultured Milk, Salt, Enzymes, Calcium Chloride}, Water, Disodium Phosphate, Enzymes), Flavoring, Potassium Chloride, Vegetable Oil (Corn, Cottonseed, Canola, And/Or Soybean), Enzyme Modified Butter (Milk), Skim Milk, Paprika Extract Citric Acid

Trader Joe's Organic Joe's O's Ingredients: Water, Organic Tomato Puree (Water, Organic Tomato Paste), Organic Macaroni (Organic Semolina (Wheat) Water), Organic Evaporated Cane, Juice, Sea Salt, Organic Corn Starch, Organic Cheddar Cheese (Organic Cultured Milk, Enzymes, Salt), Citric Acid, Organic Onion Power, Organic Paprika, Organic Garlic Power.

Overall: I thought initially that this would be a taste test and review of very similar products. Ingredients-wise, they're very different. Trader Joe's promises and delivers on their organic claim. This is a welcome relief for legions of parents that are looking to cut high-fructose corn syrup and preservatives out of their children's diet. The differences weren't limited to the ingredients. They both had what I feel are noticeably different tastes. Trader Joe's Organic Joe's O's have a much sweeter taste or tang to them. By comparison, Campbell's SpaghettiOs taste saltier to me despite having less sodium. SpaghettiOs has a noticeably thicker, heartier consistency while Trader Joe's O's are a bit runnier and tend to slide right out of the can. Overall, I prefer the taste of Trader Joe's O's spaghettios (as did my son). This was one taste test where "organic" trumped "artificial ingredients." The extra 50 cents per can paid may be worth the taste and the piece of mind that comes with organic. I hope this review was helpful.

Click here for more OCM Trader Joe's product reviews and recipes using Trader Joe's products.

 Comments (0)

 Write comment

Name

Email

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (Registered users only)

I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

Write the displayed characters

Add/Read Comments