Rating The Superfoods: The Mulberry

The Set-Up: Navitas Naturals is one of those health-food brands that just seems to do everything so damn perfectly. The packaging looks inviting, even for health food, and it's always on message. The colors are soothing yet not too feminine, there's a little yellow sun off to the side subtly noting "Certified organic." And in the case of the sun-dried white mulberries—which also are tagged repetitively as "mulberry berries" (okay, so Navitas isn't perfect)—it's called a mysteriously alluring "Turkish superfruit."

The Hype: High in resveratrol, which is supposed to lower blood sugar, and an anti-oxidant, the mulberry is billed as an über-healthy alternative to the raisin. It also is billed as high in iron and dietary fiber.

The Downside: Do a search for mulberries and you'll likely find hippie chick bloggers writing things like, "White mulberries are one of my favorite raw superfoods. Wild foods rock!"

The Upside: I put some of these berries on my granola, added a heaping spoon of yogurt, and it was actually pretty good. I've also eaten them out of the bag, and their chewy, fig-like taste and texture is slightly addicting.

The Verdict: Navitas Naturals sun-dried white mulberries are a bit too sweet for my taste, pretty much on the same sweetness plane as the raisin. There's also a slight after-taste, and they look a bit like larvae. But I would totally buy a bag if I see one at the market (a 4 oz. bag retails for $5.99); it's a healthy snack (though it's fairly high in carbs), and the berries stay fairly fresh for weeks after the packaging is opened.