Salad Dressings

This offering from Kraft distinguishes itself by the fact that it is not just a low-fat dressing but completely fat free while retaining the flavor of a regular Italian dressing. It has the typical thinness of an oil-based dressing with the different bits of light, dark, and red particles floating in it. The smell is vinegary (as could be expected) and the taste is strong enough to cause a little pucker on the first bite. But this dressing has another factor that makes it a reason to choose it and that is because it is low calorie along with being fat free. It only has 16 calories per serving which is the normal 2 tablespoons.

The list of ingredients contains mostly the expected ones such as water, vinegar as the largest percentage but then adds high fructose corn syrup which is not always present. After these comes salt and then less than 2% of the following ingredients; dried garlic, soybean oil (this is new also), garlic, modified food starch, xanthan gum, dried onions, dried red peppers, spice , yellow 5, yellow 6 (what are these?), potassium sorbate and calcium disodium EDTA as preservatives. It offers very little in the way of nutrition, however, but it does have a couple of drawbacks; first, it contains 2gs of sugar (which is not terrible) but second, it contains a whopping 480 mg of sodium or 20% of the daily recommended value. This alone lowers the overall rating one point on my scale, but may make little difference if sodium is not a problem for you.

This dressing is a good choice if your preference leans toward an Italian style dressing. It has a lot going for it – mainly the fact that it is fat free and low calorie. It has a full-bodied taste and typical texture and appearance. The only drawback I find is the large amount of sodium in it and a small after-taste which is not especially pleasant but not too bad either.

Taste Rating = 5

Overall Rating = 4

Style Category = Italian

Fat Category = fat free

Calorie Category = low calorie

Nutritional Category = none

Sodium Category = high

Normally I am not an Italian dressing lover – even a full-calorie version, however this one is a pretty good one. The smell is not extremely strong but the flavor is full-bodied and smells like basil and oil. It is somewhat thin like all Italian dressings are but this one is full of suspended particles included light-colored ones (probably the Romano cheese, dark ones (probably the basil), and some larger chunks (which appear to be red peppers). There are enough of these to make me feel like the dressing really includes them although I cannot pick out the distinctive tastes.

Once again, this product calls itself “Lite” by comparing it to its regular dressing. It claims it has “60% Less Fat 60% Fewer Calories” and advertises that it has “still only 1g carbs per serving”. I don’t know why it used the word “still” unless it has recently changed the ingredients. It also compares itself to its regular version stating this has 5g of Fats vs. 15g and calories of 50 vs. 130 so I guess this proves it is a light version.

It contains a list of ingredients that is much more extensive that the ones I have reviewed so far. The list is water, distilled vinegar, vegetable oil (soybean and/or canola), Romano cheese (cultured milk, salt, enzymes), salt, and that it contains 2% or less of high fructose corn syrup, dried garlic, dried red bell pepper, dried onion, basic, spices, lemon juice concentrate, xanthan gum, annatto and turmeric, beta carotene, potassium sorbate and calcium disodium EDTA as preservatives. It is the first one I have reviewed that indicates it has any real nutrimental value when it states that it has 2% of daily value of vitamin A, 4% of vitamin C, and 2% of calcium. Stay away from this dressing if your diet required you to be careful of the sodium levels because it has 330 mg which is 14 % of the daily value.

The label calls this product a marinade as well as a dressing and I cannot attest to this but I frequently use Italian dressings as part of my home-made marinades. This appears to be thicker than some other Italian dressing and in my book this is a good trait and makes this a good choice for a light Italian dressing.

Taste Rating = 5
Overall Rating = 4
Style Category = Italian
Fat Category = low fat
Calorie Category = medium calorie
Nutritional Category = low
Sodium Category = med high