Strawberry and Banana Iced Smoothie

Just the other day I was feeling hungry, and in a bid to look around for a snack I began to have an unpleasent conversation with my mother about how she'd just been to Co-Op and all she'd brought back was these incredibly unhealthy chocolate based foods. It felt that even the ice creams and such in my house only contained chocolate, and there were literally no sweet based product that didn't have big fat warnings written across them. Now, if only I had given her the time in my rant to mention a product that she had hiding away in the freezer. It wasn't until the next day that I saw a box with 'smoothie' written across it and a picture of a very appealing strawberry lolly that I realised there was something in the house I could potentially fall in love with. This product was Del Monte's strawberry and banana iced smoothie lollipop. Mmm... freshing.

When looking for this product I didn't really know what to search for, because I can't really get my head around what we're supposed to call this product. Del Monte is only written very small on the box with their logo, and really I wouldn't blame them for having a much bigger presence on the packaging because this is a quality product. 'smoothie' however is written large down the side in a smooth looking text and whilst 'smoothie' would be a great name for this range of products, I think more than half the people looking for it wouldn't be able to find it. The box boasts of how this strawberry and banana product is made with real fruit, and contains only 82 calories. This looks very much like a womans product, but I'm telling you men are going to appreciate it just as much - if not more.

The singular packaging for each iced smoothie (not a lolly, not an ice cream, this is literally a smoothie made and then frozen) is just as well presented as the box it came out of, and it looks like you could have picked it up for a very well reputatable ice cream parlour. Opening the packaging, if you shove your nose in you shall get a great smell that is a combination of the two fruits - this smell comes off kind of tropical, but I guess it's more strawberry than anything. First starting the product is quite difficult because of the hard nature of this once-smoothie, but once you get started it will begin to melt away beautifully. The product is your typical frozen treat on a stick shape, although perhaps a bit smaller just like they all seem to be getting later as the price rises. You can taste both fruits, and this makes for an incredibly pleasent tasting product, and is probably one of the only ones out there were you can actually taste everything it advertises. Good on Del Monte I say, and they deserve a lot of respect for this. I would say that when you're giving the iced smoothie a good suck it can almost go down like you're drinking a liquid, and it feels very smooth on your lips.

As it once was a smoothie, it does work well as being thirst quenching, and for those with sensitive teeth worrying, well this product isn't too cold in actual fact. This would be wonderful on a warm summers day, but works well even today - where the sun is just shining through the clouds. The pinky femine colour probably doesn't make it the best product for a boy to carry around the busy seaside resort, but to be honest the taste goes infront of image. Del Monte strawberry and banana ice smoothie is a great feel good product, and I'm very interested in seeing how this delicious and refreshing range of products continues. I would say it is the strawberry taste that hits you first, but then the banana comes as a burst of fantastic after taste. A typical wooden stick holding a more than average product, this is the most stylish and up to date (in terms of dieting and the such) product that I've had since Skinny Cow, and even that didn't taste as good.

Nutritional information; (per 90ml smoothie)

Energy 348 kJ/82 kcal
Protein 0.4g
Carbohydrate 19.9g
(of which sugars) 18.1g
Fat trace
(of which saturates) trace

Ingrediants; strawberry puree (60%), sugar, water, glucose syrup, banana puree (5%), stabilisers (methyl cellulose, guar gum, locust bean gum, carboxy methyl cellulose, pectin, sodium alginate), natural strawberry flavouring, natural banana flavouring, citric acid, colour (beetroot red). Suitable for vegetarians.