An angel in a pot (Muller light fruit halo)

Member Name: fooyoo

Product:	Muller light fruit halo
Date:	28/01/04 (186 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Tasty, Low fat

Disadvantages: 98p for 2 is a little more expensive than the norm

Our house is in diet mode at the moment. The wife joined a slimming club in November, and credit where credit is due, there is now a lot less of her to admire. Along the way, she has found many foods which are good alternatives to traditional high fat, high calorie choices, and which she claims are just as nice, if not nicer than the 'bad' choices. She has tried to get me to try many of these 'good' foods, and in truth, the only one I have eaten and enjoyed was the Fruit Halo, produced by Muller. We already eat a lot of Mullerlight yoghurts, so they were a manufacturer we were familiar with, and also one that we liked, so trying one of their new products was really not that much of a gamble.

We originally bought these when they were on offer at the local supermarket at 69p for a twin pack, although they seem to retail for 98p when not on special offer. Initially, I think 98p sounds a little steep for 2 desserts/yoghurts, but let me assure you that your 98p will be well spent if you buy these.

I promise not to waffle on about the packaging, and stating the obvious, however there are still cosmetic features I would like to point out. The desserts come in plastic containers bound together with a cardboard wrapping which states the name, nutritional information and pictures of the fruit that you will find in the desserts. It is very visually attractive as the pictures of the fruit make it look juicy and perfect to eat, and it always stands out from it's competitors when I see it on the shelves in the supermarket. There are two choices on offer. My favourite is peach and pineapple, whilst my wife loves the raspberry flavour, and we have seen ads for a toffee flavour, but have yet to find it on sale anywhere. When you peel off the foil lid, the aroma of the fruit is immediately apparent, and it certainly sets off the taste buds.

Now what about the taste and texture, which is the most important thing with food I am sure you
will agree. Peel off the lid and you are greeted with a whipped fruity top, but dig down a little, and you will find a smooth custard type layer, which takes up about 3/4 of the pot. This is delicious and it tastes as good as any other custard style dessert I have tasted, which when I found out it was fromage frais, I was amazed. You can eat the dessert in two ways. Firstly, and my preference, is to eat the top layer first, and when that is finished, I devour the fruit puree which takes up the bottom of the pot. The makers claim (and I would not try to disprove it) that the fruit is as pure as you can get without being overloaded with artificial sweetners, and for me this is certainly a plus point, as I sometimes think that makers sweeten fruit too much and it takes away a lot of the natural taste, and the natural acids in the fruit give the taste a welcome kick. If that method does not do it for you then you could stick your spoon into the pot and mix the two sections together which gives you a lovely fruity flavoured smooth dessert. Either way is good, but as I said I prefer to enjoy the two sections separately.

When I first tried this, I was convinced that Muller has let me down, and produced a high calorie dessert which I would have to forego if the diet was to work. My fears, I am glad to say were unfounded, as each 145g pot has just 117 calories, and just 0.5g of fat, which is low in anybody's book, and it certainly is in mine!! We both love these, and because they are so diet friendly, we probably go through 8 - 10 each week as they are a nice end to a meal, or a midday treat with lunch. Their versatility is a huge plus point. Muller do very well out of us, as our 4 year old loves Mullerlight more than any of the over sugared children's yoghurts which are on offer in the supermarket. If you have a sweet tooth, but want to watch your waistline, then give these a try.

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