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Jed Boal ReportingIf you're like most Utahns, you've enjoyed a few Girl Scout Cookies in the past week. That one-of-a-kind taste is something we wait for all year. As it turns out, though, it's not exactly a one-of-a-kind taste.
All across the country Girl Scout Cookies disappear about as quickly as any treat, but the Samoas, Do-Si-Dos and Thin Mints we gobble down in Utah are not exactly the same Carmel Delights, Thanks-a-lots and Thin Mints they eat in New Jersey.
Is it a Samoa or a Caramel Delite? The box is slightly different and so are the cookies. My nieces, who are Girl Scouts in New Jersey, sold me the box on the left. The box on the right came from Girl Scouts in Utah. We set up a taste test to see whether you could really tell the difference in the cookies from New Jersey and the cookies from Utah.
Our four taste testers split on their favorite, Thin Mints. All testers preferred the Utah Samoa to the New Jersey Caramel Delite.
Health information is slightly different too. The New Jersy Delite has 70 calories and 3.5 grams of fat, while the Utah Samoa has 75 calories and 4 grams of fat. The New Jersey Thin Mints contain 80 calories and 4 grams of fat, while the Utah Thin Mints are a bit better at 70 calories and 3.5 grams of fat. However, the New Jersey cookies have zero grams of trans fat, while the Utah cookies have one gram.
The Girls Scouts are not hiding anything.
Elaine Gause, CEO of Girl Scouts of Utah: "It makes sense, there are a lot of different brands out there and Girl Scout Cookies are the same way."
A Richmond, Virginia bakery supplies 40-percent of all Girl Scout cookies, including those I bought from my nieces. The cookies we eat in Utah come from a bakery in Louisville, Kentucky.
Girl Scouts of Utah makes a business decision that starts with it's own taste testing.
Elaine Gause, CEO of Girl Scouts of Utah: "We continue that taste-testing. We're always interested in what new cookies are coming out from either baker and we know our customers are interested in that too."
We had no trouble finding volunteers for the taste tests and no one turned down any of the cookies. By the way, the cookies are still on sale through Saturday.
