Deli meats add nice spice but go heavy on the sodium

Oscar Mayer Deli Fresh Shaved Flavored Luncheon Meats. Black Forest Ham, Cracked Black Peppered Turkey, French Dip Flavored Roast Beef, and Cajun Seasoned Chicken Breast. $3.99 per 7-ounce to 9-ounce container.

Bonnie: We reviewed Oscar Mayer's individual portions of shaved luncheon meats last fall. Like those singles, these new fresh-shaved luncheon meats are about 98 percent fat-free, with 45 to 60 calories and 500 to 630 milligrams of sodium per 1.8-ounce portion — which is a bit too much sodium. But that high sodium content is typical of prepackaged sliced luncheon meats, including those from competitors Hillshire Farms and Louis Rich.

And there's a huge — about $7.50 per pound — savings with these Oscar Mayer luncheon meats over singles. In this economy, that makes them a comparatively good buy. That is, if you don't mind all the sodium.

Carolyn: Oscar Mayer is bringing a little excitement to the dreary brown-bag lunches everyone's now taking to work (at least, those who are lucky enough to still have a job these days). This excitement comes from innovative spicing ideas, like black pepper in the turkey and Cajun seasoning for the chicken, instead of the standard honey or roasted. And yet, I liked the fairly conventional smoked Black Forest ham even more than the black-peppered turkey (my second favorite).

The oniony French-dip flavoring made the roast beef taste like ham. And despite the great idea, the chicken's spicing is way too mild to be accurately called Cajun.

Fruit2day Fruit Bits in 100 Percent Juice Blend. Mango Peach, Cherry Grape, Strawberry Orange, and Pineapple Banana. $3.79 for two 6.75-ounce bottles.

Bonnie: Imagine occasionally needing to stop drinking some juice to chew the fruit bits in it. That's Fruit2day.

Fruit2day is a drinkable and edible snack containing real fruit bits, fruit puree and some juice. There are two servings of fruit, 100 to 120 calories and 1 to 2 grams of fiber in each bottle. The chewy fruits mostly match the eponymous labels, though the juice base is usually apple and white-grape-juice concentrate.

If you don't mind chewing while you drink, by all means give one of these a try.

Carolyn: Bonnie is probably right in saying that Fruit2day could be a good thing for people who don't mind chewing while they drink. But I have never met such a person.