A gimmick? A pretty good gimmick! (Hovis Best of Both)

Member Name: powerball

Product:	Hovis Best of Both
Date:	16/09/09 (32 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Tasty, guilt free

Disadvantages: Best eaten a good few days before "best before" date

I like wholemeal bread. Generally I am perfectly happy to eat it and have a clear conscience in that I know that it is supposed to be better for me with it's high fibre and will keep me satisfied for longer. (Yawn, yawn!)
But sometimes, I just feel like having white bread. White toast with "lashings" of proper butter. Now, this is hardly the biggest culinary or dietary sin, but, these days it can feel as though the health police follow you around the supermarket, and I have even found myself looking apologetically at complete supermarket strangers having sneakily put a loaf of Super Toasty in my trolley.
So Hovis have come up with the idea of "Best of Both" bread. They describe this bread as "tasty white bread with all the wheatgerm goodness of wholemeal". 2 slices apparently provide a quarter of a child's daily fibre needs.
The bread certainly is tasty. I tend to rummage on the shelf to find the loaf with the longest shelf life - I find that it quickly deteriorates and is not good 2 days or less before it's "Best Before" date. The medium is great for sandwiches and the thick really does make good toast. I don't mind crusts but sometimes I cut them off for my toddler son if he is in a particularly fussy mood, and it has to be said, there is a fair amount of crust to this loaf.
One observation I have made is that the two end pieces (crusts) are cut extremely thickly - generally a big waste and your loaf seems to disappear a lot faster than you would expect. This does have a slight advantage in our household now, however, in that my son likes to open the bread whilst being pushed around in the supermarket trolley, and at this time seems to love eating the crust. With these very thick crusts, it tends to keep him happy for at least 4 supermarket aisles, so it's not all bad!
Each slice of the medium loaf contains 85 calories, which is not too sinful for those watching their weight. I notice however that a slice also contains 0.35 g salt, which is perhaps a little high.
Priced at between £1.10 and £1.32 a loaf, the best deals to be had are the 3 for £2.50 at a few supermarkets, and as with most sliced loaves, it freezes pretty well.
All in all, the bread pretty much does what it says on the packet and I'm not sure that every white bread fan would be able to spot the difference.

Summary: Versatile white loaf at a good price, without the guilt