WHAT'S NEW ON THE GROCERS' SHELVES

Bonnie: Hershey's has just turned its Bliss bites into bars. These are basically Bliss chocolate pieces transformed into a five-sectioned bar that could help with disciplined eating. Even people who could easily indulge in more than five Bliss sections might think twice about opening a second bar.

One of these bars is a rich and creamy dark chocolate, while the milk chocolate has a softer "meltaway" center. Both bars contain 12 grams of total fat, of which 7 to 8 grams are saturated. The milk chocolate also contains 20 calories, 35 milligrams of sodium and 2 more grams of sugar than the dark, with 2 fewer grams of fiber. That's all the more reason to select dark over milk (in addition to my taste preference).

Carolyn: Hershey's is launching its new Bliss Bars with an essay contest based on the book "The Necklace," about 13 women who buy an expensive diamond necklace together and take turns wearing it. (Visit www.hersheysbliss.com for contest details.)

What does that necklace have to do with Bliss candy? The sharing. Eating all five sections of these little bars seems almost inevitable -- unless you split them with somebody. But like an expensive necklace, Bliss chocolate is rich and rare. That's why it's easy to be satisfied with only one or two 30-calorie segments.

Bonnie: Fruit2O Essentials is a zero-calorie water fortified with some of the vitamins, minerals and fiber found in two servings of fruit. There is no fruit juice in these bottles, only purified water with added vitamins, electrolytes, minerals and fiber. It's also artificially sweetened and preserved. In other words, this is a cloyingly sweet, liquid vitamin pill with an aftertaste.

Much of the goodness of fruit is missing from this water. That includes micronutrients (phytochemicals), fiber and the pleasure of biting into a succulent fresh peach or juicy crisp apple. Stick to real fruit washed down with plain water.

Carolyn: It tastes as good as juice, has as few calories as diet soda, and fulfills daily recommendations for intake of fruit and water all at once: That's the claim of Fruit2O Essentials, and it seems almost too good to be true.

It is, actually, but not because of the nutritional issues Bonnie just went on about, but because of its taste. It's a little watery and not sufficiently sweet. The one variety with the strongest flavor (the Citrus) also tastes the most fake. Until Fruit2O fixes its taste problem, I'm sticking with the less nutritionally enhanced but much better-tasting Propel flavored water.

Bonnie: Fans of homemade fudge, pudding and flan are probably familiar with sweetened condensed milk, a shelf-stable product that replaces sugar and milk in many baking recipes.

This new La Lechera 50 Percent Less Sugar contains half the sugar and a third the fat of regular sweetened condensed milk's 130 calories, 3 grams of fat and 22 grams of sugar.

That regular product contains only milk and sugar. To achieve its sugar and fat savings, La Lechera 50 Percent Less Sugar contains many more ingredients, including modified starch, corn starch, sodium phosphate, soy lecithin, natural and artificial flavors, carrageenan, agar and salt.

This new La Lechera is probably best for those who know their way around the kitchen, as adjustments will need to be made in many recipes. La Lechera maker Nestle says that could include adding extra binders, such as eggs, in a cheesecake recipe, and increasing baking time and decreasing liquid in candy, flan, tarts and custards. But for sweets lovers who need to cut back on sugar, it could be worth the trouble.

Carolyn: Being a very occasional cook, I'm a very occasional user of sweetened condensed milk. To avoid recipe adaptation issues, I tried this new reduced-sugar sweetened condensed milk in a rice pudding recipe designed for it on the La Lechera Web site (www.lalechera.com). The pudding wasn't bad, even with the slight aftertaste that belies the label claim that La Lechera 50 Percent Less Sugar "tastes the same" as traditional La Lechera.

Still, my general belief is that half-anything products are half-baked. If you need to cut back on sugar or calories, eat packaged or premade diet or sugar-free pudding or fudge. If you're going to all the trouble of making sweets, you might as well go all the way.

(Bonnie Tandy Leblang is a registered dietitian and professional speaker. She has an interactive site (www.biteofthebest.com) about products she recommends. Follow her on Twitter: BonnieBOTB. Carolyn Wyman is a junk-food fanatic and author of "The Great Philly Cheesesteak Book" (Running Press). Each week they critique three new food items.)

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