Cool offer from Annie's

One of our favorite brands is Annie's Homegrown.  When I decided to eliminate Pepperidge Farm Goldfish crackers from our diet because of the artificial colors and ingredients, we switched to Annie's Bunny crackers and cookies.  We love all of the flavors: cheddar, white cheddar, whole wheat, graham, chocolate and chocolate chip.  The macaroni and cheese products are also a favorite at our house.  I like their canned pasta, but don't purchase them often.  Annie's admits that they're still using cans with a BPA lining, but are in the process of exploring alternative packaging.

While not 100% organic, I do feel that Annie's is a good compromise.  There are so many organic products that are manufactured using the same equipment or in the same facility with peanuts/tree nuts, that we are quite limited in our selection of healthy snacks.  Annie's has a great allergen labeling policy, and I feel good about letting Abigail eat their products.  Here's what their website states: 

While there has been no product reformulation or change in manufacturing facilities, Annie's Homegrown has recently decided to go above and beyond FDA requirements and include an allergen statement on all of our products that are manufactured on shared equipment with any of the top eight allergens. Our manufacturing facilities meet with the highest standards of cleanliness, and we maintain all allergen cleaning, and Quality Control protocol on file. We recognize the needs of our customers who have allergies or sensitivities to nuts, gluten, certain spices, etc. Annie's always fully discloses all ingredients on the ingredient statement and will answer any questions that will help consumers decide what products they can safely consume. At Annie's, we take every precaution to ensure that cross contamination of ingredients does not occur in our production facility. We run the products in a particular order to reduce the risk of cross contamination, take the equipment apart and thoroughly clean it in between runs of product. However, we want you to know that some products are produced in a plant that processes foods containing wheat, dairy, soy, peanuts, tree nuts, fish, crustaceans/shellfish, and egg. This is why we voluntarily chose to update our packaging to include this allergen information.

Right now, they have a cool offer.  You can go to their webite at http://www.annies.com/konserve and with 2 UPC codes from any of their products, receive a reusable and waste-free lunch sack.  It's probably not cool enough for Abigail to take to school, but it's still fun to receive free products, especially when there are no hidden obligations.  And, I'm not too cool to use it for snacks for my son and me.

 

If you're like me and always looking out for the best price, then you might be interested in knowing that Target has the lowest price in my area.  Super Target has the best selection.  They also put them on sale from time to time, and then I really stock up.  Just last week, all of the crackers were $2.00 a box, the pasta was $2.00 a can, and the mac 'n cheese was $1.00 a box.

Just an obligatory note...while it would be great if Annie's was sending me a bunch of free product or some type of compensation, they're not.  I just like to highlight products that I feel meet my high standards and that are safe for people with peanut/tree nut allergies.  Like always, be sure to check the food allergen statements on the box.