WHAT'S NEW ON THE GROCERS' SHELVES

Post Grape-Nuts O's Cereal. $2.99 per 12-ounce box.

Bonnie: Original Grape-Nuts is such a great high-fiber cereal that I thought I was going to really like this new take on it. Unfortunately, Post took the name and debauched it into a moderately high-sugar (albeit brown sugar), almost fiberless Honey Nut Cheerios clone.

The only way I could recommend this would be if it's eaten in small portions and garnished with plenty of the high-fiber original Grape-Nuts.

Carolyn: You've got to figure that more than one tooth has been broken on crunchy, hard Grape-Nuts. This new version should also be a boon to dentists, although for a different reason: the amount of sugar it contains.

I certainly have nothing against sugar, but I do believe strongly that a spin-off product should retain the essence of its original inspiration. Grape-Nuts Flakes does that by delivering the Grape-Nuts taste in soft flake form.

But Grape-Nuts O's taste is from sugar. Its consistency and shape is from Cheerios. It should more accurately be called Dark Sugar O's.

Kraft Flavored Dressings. Savory Mayo Roasted Garlic, and Roasted Onion, and Miracle Whip Roasted Garlic, and Zesty Onion. $1.99 to $2.39 per pint jar.

Bonnie: Convenience, convenience, convenience. That's what consumers are looking for, and that's what Kraft is giving them with these new flavored, spoonable dressings.

By adding roasted garlic or onion to Miracle Whip salad dressing (in the Midwest) and Kraft Mayonnaise (in the rest of the country), Kraft has eliminated one more food-preparation step for us. Not a bad idea for those of us living in the express lane.

Add a spoonful of one or both varieties to vegetable salads, pasta, sandwiches or whatever you'd traditionally use mayonnaise or salad dressing for, and you'll not only add some flavor, but you'll also save some fat and calories over regular Kraft Mayonnaise or Miracle Whip.

Carolyn: If garlic-flavored Miracle Whip isn't proof that the American palate is becoming more adventurous, I don't know what is.

That dressing and the three other new ones debuting with it are flavored foods that make sense. Too many times, food manufacturers add flavors that are too unusual to eat regularly, or that you could add easily or more cheaply yourself. But garlic and onion work well with just about any nonsweet.

The dressings gave my sandwich a more interesting and complex taste -- minus the complex about bad breath that comes from eating real raw onion and garlic.

Frieda's Soytaco. $3.49 to $3.99 per 12-ounce refrigerated package.

Bonnie: Here's the latest soy product to follow the research about soy's many health benefits, including reducing the risk of heart disease and menopausal symptoms. This new Soytaco from Frieda's can be ready to eat in about three minutes. Just open the package, brown in a skillet and use like taco-seasoned ground beef in tacos, enchiladas, salads or a Mexican pizza.

This is not only lots lower in fat and calories than seasoned ground beef, it's also much lower in fat and sodium than Freida's Soyrizo, a meatless chorizo-flavored sausage. That's why it's worth a try.

Carolyn: What looks like dog food, has the texture of loose-knit cloth and comes in a refrigerated cookie-dough roll? Soytaco, the latest refrigerated meat substitute from Frieda.

Like the Soyrizo soy sausage that preceded it, Soytaco is spiced mush that you cook in a pan and add to other foods (at least if you don't want it to look as if you're serving dog food to the humans in your family).

It was tasty in a taco, if a bit chewier than hamburger. It's also more convenient than having to add taco seasoning mix to ground beef.

(Bonnie Tandy Leblang is a registered dietitian and creator of Express Lane Cooking: A Simple Solution to What's for Dinner (Universal Press Syndicate). Carolyn Wyman is a junk food fanatic and author of "Spam: A Biography" (Harvest/Harcourt Brace). Each week they critique three new food items.)