Over the weekend, I went to Trader Joe’s to stock up on pumpkin butter. While there, I couldn’t help nabbing some of their store brand candies. This week will be a week of Trader Joe’s reviews, starting with their Milk Chocolate Covered Toffee Popcorn.
The fat nuggets of popcorn looked so tantalizing, tumbling out of the bag with their slight sheen. Their outer coating was a thin layer of milk chocolate. Beneath that was a thin layer of toffee glaze, and then the fattest, fluffiest popcorn I’ve ever seen.
I wonder if Trader Joe’s is starting with some seriously genetically modified corn or something. Every piece was nearly all lovely puffy popped part and barely any noticeable gets-stuck-in-your-teeth kernel part.
The milk chocolate was malty and sugary sweet. The toffee added a bit of crunch and a light buttery scorchiness, and the popcorn fluffiness capped it all off as a light, neutral foil.
This treat was a great synthesis of flavors and textures. Chocolate-covered popcorn style treats tend to be pricy (looking at you, Moose Munch), but this was only $2.99 for the 8 oz bag. Sold!
My only complaint is that it got a tad too sweet in the finish after a few pieces in a row so it gets a slight downgrade for that. An OM.
85% of all corn grown in the U.S. in 2010 was of the “Genetically Modified” variety known as “BT Corn”. Corn cells are genetically modified by forcefully injecting spliced DNA into the nucleus of each cell. The spliced DNA consists of: E-coli + a BT gene (an organic biotoxin) + a Round-Up resistant gene + an antibiotic marker gene (high risk of total loss of antibiotics) + a Cauliflower Mosaic Virus promoter gene (so that it replicates within the nucleus). Basically, a lot of bits of bacteria and viruses spliced together. Yum!
GMO foods ended up going untested by the FDA through various political maneuverings (not science!). Today, BT Corn is found in most store-bought things containing corn, especially High Fructose Corn Syrup.
I can taste the difference between HFCS and cane sugar – you probably are picking out the difference too without realizing it.
GM soybeans, found in “Soy Lecithin”, is another heavily planted GMO crop and found extensively in candy. Particularly milk chocolate. Again, you probably notice its flavor.