The latest food sample to hit our office came in small silver pouches and was called “Crispy Green.” Inside each pouch were freeze-dried pieces of a single type of fruit: apple, apricot, peach, pineapple, and pear.

The upside: these are pure fruit, with no additives or preservatives of any kind, making Crispy Green a neat way to always have fruit on hand (no spoiling, no sticky juice, no peeling). The downside: the taste and texture wasn’t a hit with everyone.

Unlike their dried fruit counterparts, these freeze dried pieces are crisp and airy. With less than 40 calories per pouch, I like the idea of having these on hand as an emergency source of fruit (on a plane, perhaps). And they are certainly a better choice than a pouch of M&Ms. But they’ll never take the place of a real piece of fruit.  And at $1.49 per pouch, they aren’t the cheapest of snack choices.

What do you think? Has anyone tried freeze-dried fruit?