This offering from Kraft distinguishes itself by the fact that it is not just a low-fat dressing but completely fat free while retaining the flavor of a regular Italian dressing. It has the typical thinness of an oil-based dressing with the different bits of light, dark, and red particles floating in it. The smell is vinegary (as could be expected) and the taste is strong enough to cause a little pucker on the first bite. But this dressing has another factor that makes it a reason to choose it and that is because it is low calorie along with being fat free. It only has 16 calories per serving which is the normal 2 tablespoons.
The list of ingredients contains mostly the expected ones such as water, vinegar as the largest percentage but then adds high fructose corn syrup which is not always present. After these comes salt and then less than 2% of the following ingredients; dried garlic, soybean oil (this is new also), garlic, modified food starch, xanthan gum, dried onions, dried red peppers, spice , yellow 5, yellow 6 (what are these?), potassium sorbate and calcium disodium EDTA as preservatives. It offers very little in the way of nutrition, however, but it does have a couple of drawbacks; first, it contains 2gs of sugar (which is not terrible) but second, it contains a whopping 480 mg of sodium or 20% of the daily recommended value. This alone lowers the overall rating one point on my scale, but may make little difference if sodium is not a problem for you.
This dressing is a good choice if your preference leans toward an Italian style dressing. It has a lot going for it – mainly the fact that it is fat free and low calorie. It has a full-bodied taste and typical texture and appearance. The only drawback I find is the large amount of sodium in it and a small after-taste which is not especially pleasant but not too bad either.
Taste Rating = 5
Overall Rating = 4
Style Category = Italian
Fat Category = fat free
Calorie Category = low calorie
Nutritional Category = none
Sodium Category = high
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