A Healthier Trip to the Supermarket

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Cheap junk food has never been hard to find — it overflows in supermarkets, corner stores and even gas stations. But Americans' burgeoning interest in healthier eating has prompted a surge in the availability of healthier foods, which have long battled for supermarket shelf space with saltier, sweeter alternatives. Fruits and veggies are being packaged in new forms, without spoiling their nutritional value. Last year manufacturers introduced more than 400 whole-grain products, according to ProductScan research, and hundreds more are coming out this year. Some are just slightly less junkier version of sugar-loaded snacks, but others are worth trying. If you'd like to take a healthier walk down the supermarket aisles, here are five new options to try:

Quickie Veggies

If you can't get to the store often enough to keep fresh vegetables readily at hand, try new packaged versions. "People think 'canned' is a bad word," says Phil Lempert, editor of Supermarketguru.com, "but in my book canned or frozen fruits and veggies are actually better because they're packed when they're fresh and they're a lot cheaper." Birds Eye has a new product out called Steamfresh, which consists of flash-frozen vegetables packed in a bag designed to be steam-cooked in a microwave. The process is intended to help consumers cook vegetables in less than five minutes without boiling away their nutritional value and without the nuisance of pots to clean. "Some products come with too much buttery sauce," Lempert says. "Just getting veggies without anything added is a good thing."

Healthy Drinks

Sports drinks and other ready-to-go beverages are more popular than ever, but there are healthy new options too. V8 V-Fusion is a new drink that packs a full serving of both fruit and vegetables into a little bottle. It's 100% juice and doesn't have added sugar. It may seem odd to see a tomato juice brand offering fruity flavors like Strawberry Banana, Peach Mango and Tropical Orange, but it's a nutritious alternative to soda. Other options, if you're a Jamba Juice-fan, are Bolthouse Farms' new drinks, like C-Boost, a tropical fruit smoothie. And for those who have acquired a taste for Pom's pomegranate juice, Odwalla has three new pomegranate juice flavors and Naked Juice has a new one called Pomegranate Acai.

Good-for-you Cereal

Nutritionists have long called breakfast the most important meal of the day, but many kids still start their mornings at the service of Captain Crunch. To interest children in healthy cereal without subjecting them to the pebble-like texture of Grape Nuts, consider the new instant organic oatmeal produced by Country Choice, called Fit Kids. It doesn't have high fructose corn syrup or a lot of the artificial ingredients that fill other kids' cereals, and it has plenty of fiber, calcium and iron. Another quick and healthy option for breakfast: a simple five-ingredient smoothie, made with bananas, milk, peanut butter, honey and ice. It's both cheaper and healthier than most breakfasts-in-a-box.

Exotic Fruit

A generation ago, the fruit aisle at your neighborhood grocery store might have topped out once you got past the apples, bananas and peaches. But more stores are carrying persimmons, kiwi berries, starfruit and other exotic fruits. "Kiwi was rare 20 years ago," says David Feder, dietician and managing editor of Wellness Foods Magazine, "but now they're everywhere." If you're looking for simpler frozen fruit, Lempert recommends Cascadian Farm's organic frozen blueberries as an affordable alternative to $5-a-pint fresh ones. When selecting fruit and veggies, dietician and food expert Melinda Hemmelgarn says the best way to support environmentally friendly practices is to look into what's grown locally. To learn more about that approach, visit foodroutes.org

How About Tofu?

Lempert says that given avian flu and mad cow concerns, many consumers are looking for new forms of protein this summer. Tofu, which has long been popular in Asia, is becoming more common in American supermarkets. Sold in the produce section, often in vacuum packs or rectangular tubs, tofu is healthy, easy to prepare and relatively inexpensive. Nasoya has introduced a line of nine organic tofu varieties, ranging in texture from soft to extra firm. The versatile soy product makes a great base for meatless stir-fries, and can also be used in anything from salads to smoothies.