Bassetts Soft & Chewy Daily Energiser Vitamin Pastilles

Although I try to eat healthily, get my five portions of fruit and veg each day and exercise regularly, I sometimes feel that I'm not getting all the vitamins and minerals that I need. I've also been feeling quite run-down and tired recently, so I decided to buy myself some vitamins to get myself into the habit of taking them each day. I planned to purchase a bog-standard, run-of-the-mill bottle of cheap vitamins, but I spotted a box of Bassetts Soft & Chewy Daily Energiser Vitamin Pastilles on special offer, and the idea of chewy, fruit-flavoured vitamins really appealed to me. Here's how I've got on with them over the last few weeks since buying them.

Packaging

These vitamins come in a white cardboard box with a green and purple colour scheme which houses 20 pastilles in two plastic trays with foil backings. The front of the box has text outlining the brand name, product name and tells us that these are 'for adults', 'delicious citrus flavoured pastilles' and contain B vitamins and CoQ10. There is a silhouette image of a lady in heels and a handbag, suggesting that these vitamins are aimed at adults (particularly females, perhaps) who lead busy lives.

The back of the box contains more comprehensive information. It sets out that these pastilles help to promote:

1) Energy levels and metabolism
2) Immune health
3) Good general health

The sides of the box provide an ingredient list, nutrition information (i.e. how many milligrams of various ingredients each pastille contains and the percentage of an adults Recommended Daily Allowance that they provide) and warnings not to exceed the daily allowance of one pastille per day and not to substitute food supplements for a varied diet.

The Vitamins

The packaging describes these vitamins as having being developed 'to support those who lead busy and hectic lives and would like to maintain their energy levels throughout the day - and night'. They are for use by people over the age of 12 and contain a number of ingredients specifically included to help their target users:

* CoQ10 to promote energy levels and metabolism
* B Vitamins (B2, B5, B6 and B12) which help with energy, metabolism, cognitive function, heart and blood health and help keep nails, hair and skin healthy
* Vitamins C and E for healthy skin and gums, iron absorption and antioxidant protection of body tissues.

Taking these vitamins is easy: you simply have to pop one out of the foil-backed tray and chew it up. And now onto the main question that I'm sure many people will have about these vitamins: how do they taste? Well, I was a little surprised when I tried one of these pastilles for the first time, as the green colour scheme used on the packaging and their description of being 'citrus' flavoured led me to assume that these would be lime or lemon and lime flavoured. However, these are in fact orange, both in flavour and colour. Taste-wise, I find that they taste very similar to a Rowntrees fruit gum (the orange flavour, obviously!), and I do feel a little bit like I'm eating a sweet rather than a supplement.

One thing I have noticed when eating these vitamins is that once or twice I've been left with a horrible, bitter after-taste a few minutes after eating one. Strangely, this doesn't happen each time I have one of these pastilles. However, the taste was so bad that I now ensure I either brush my teeth or have a big drink after taking one of these vitamins, as I don't want that after-taste again.

With regards to how much these pastilles meet their aim to increase energy levels and metabolism and to boost both immune and general health, I'm not sure how much I can comment. I've certainly noticed that my energy levels have increased since I started taking them, although I wouldn't want to attribute this to this product alone as I'm well aware that numerous factors contribute to health and wellbeing and I'd never want to depend on a supplement alone to keep me healthy. Nonetheless, in my book, any product that claims to boost energy and ensure I get the vitamins and minerals I need to stay healthy is worth trying. The vitamins also provide over 100% of an adult's RDA of various vitamins (e.g. 114% of RDA for vitamin B2, 100% B5 and 143% B6) which I think is fantastic.

Price and Availability

I purchased these vitamin pastilles from my local Tesco's store where they were on a long-term '3 for 2' offer across a wide range of vitamins and supplements. I've also seen them in Sainsbury's on the same offer, and I've seen them being sold in branches of Boots and Superdrug and in independent chemists and pharmacies. These are clearly a popular product as they seem to be widely stocked, along with other vitamin pastilles manufactured by Bassetts.

At a price of £3.55 for 20 pastilles, or £5.65 for a pack of 30, these are more costly than your bog-standard bottle of vitamin tablets. However, I personally think it's worth paying the extra money, as the taste and pastille-texture really help to ensure that I take my vitamins everyday.

My Conclusions

As I hope that my review has shown, I've been really happy with these pastilles. I really like their taste and texture and the fact that I enjoy eating them has definitely made sure that I remember to take a supplement everyday. As an adult who does lead a bit of a hectic lifestyle, causing me to suffer sometimes with my health and my energy levels, I feel that these vitamins have been designed with people like myself in mind and I do feel that they've made me feel healthier and more energised.

I think that the one drawback of these supplements is the price: at £3.55 for a pack of 20 pastilles (which, taken daily, will last less than three weeks), there are certainly cheaper alternatives available which I'm sure would provide as many vitamins and other beneficial ingredients. Nonetheless, I'm happy to pay a bit more for a product like this, as I tend to forget to take ordinary vitamins whereas I've had no problems remembering to take these. Some people may think that making vitamins look and taste like sweets is gimmicky or even dangerous, but I think it's a great way of getting adults to take their supplements. It's also definitely worth looking out for these on offer as numerous stores (like Tesco, Sainsbury's and Boots) have long-term '3 for 2' offers on vitamins and supplements.

Overall, I'm giving these Bassetts Soft and Chewy Daily Energiser Vitamin Pastilles a very good score of four out of five. I'm knocking one point off as they're not the cheapest supplements in the world, but I still think they're a great product.