PITTSBURGH -- Channel 11 asked a handful of women who have been following a low-carbohydrate diet for some time to grade some of the most common low-carb foods found on store shelves -- foods that are supposed to help people lose weight.

Channel 11 bought a variety of low-carb foods from Giant Eagle, GNC and Shop 'n Save; different brands of low-carb breads, meal replacement bars and drinks, muffin mix, and chips, along with their regular-carb equivalents.

Then, the panelists dug into the blind taste test, knowing only the numbers of the foods, not the names. Each was graded on how well it tasted. After 30 minutes of careful munching and mulling over its decisions, the panel had some clear winners.

Loree, a panel member, said, "I can't believe I liked the low-carb muffin."

The Atkins Blueberry Muffin Mix, with only 8 net carbs per serving, rated great. All four experts said they would gladly pay the $5.49 price for the low-carb mix rather than eat the 26 grams of net carbohydrates per serving in the 69-cent Jiffy Muffin mix.

Channel 11's Becky Thompson said, "Tell me why you'd pay that much on that kind of stuff."
Sonya, a panel member, said, "Well, I wouldn't feel guilty eating it."

Another surprise was the creamy taste of Breyers Carb Smart ice cream. It beat the brand's regular ice cream. Both cost $5.89.

All five breads, including the two that weren't low-carb, were close in price: $2.09 to $1.29. But the overall winner was the low-carb bread.

"I like the Roman Meal Low-Carb. And I like it so much better than the one with carbs," Loree said.

Carb Aware Whole Wheat has only 7 net carbs. That's one more than Brownberry's Carb Counting Bread -- but a lot less than the 12 and 13 found in the regular-carb breads.

Of the four meal replacement bars, only one was rated OK or great by all of the panelists. The Slim Fast bar at $1.20 is a lot less than the low-carb bars, but packs at least 11 more net carbs.

As for the low-carb chips, they're pricey: $1.29 an ounce versus $2.99 for 12 ounces of Lays potato chips. But they have only 4 net grams of carbohydrates versus the 14 per serving in Lays. Two panelists said the taste was pretty good, although one said it tasted more like a corn chip.

Of the meal replacement drinks, the Slim Fast rates a little bit better in taste. But if you're on a low-carb diet, you'll have to convince yourself the extra 34 net grams of carbohydrates are worth it.

How many carbohydrates does something have to have to call itself low-carb? As many as it wants. Unlike the term low-fat, the Food and Drug Administration has not gotten involved in setting standards for low-carb. But generally when a product does call itself low-carb, it's using the Atkins Diet as a measurement.