South Beach Four Cheese Pizza

June 14, 2006 | Reviewer: Amy

Price: $3.00
Serving: 1 pizza, 6.3 oz.
Calories: 340
Fat: 17%, 11g
Sodium: 27%, 650mg
Protein: 42%, 31g
Carbs: 12%, 36g
Fiber: 40%, 10g

South Beach says: Harvest Wheat Crust Pizza. Reduced Fat Mozzarella Cheese with Parmesan, Romano, and Asiago Cheeses. New Crispier Crust from the Microwave! Changing the way America eats.

The statement above was cobbled together from multiple statements on the box.

Amy says: So I am doing this review mid-meal, something I have never done before. The reason for this was that I thought up what I think is a brilliant analogy for this pizza, but now that I think about it more, it seems less ingenious. Here it goes: this pizza resembles a fried egg to me. In the center is some cheese that looks the way melted cheese is supposed to look like when it is freshly melted and all of the cheese around it looks like cheese that was melted approximately 57 hours ago. The box says that I will get a crispier crust, it says nothing of crispier cheese. I just tried rapping my knuckles against the edge of the pizza and not only did it not stick to my fingers, but it made an audible knocking sound and has made my knuckles turn pink, I hope it doesn’t bruise.

The center of the pizza isn’t terrible. The crust tastes of cardboard, but the sauce has a little kick to it and the 2 inch circle (I am talking diameter here) of properly melted cheese is pleasant. The crust is soggy in the middle and the “crisp” perimeter is more like the crispiness you get when bread is stale, not the oven fired kind.

The nutrition value of this item isn’t awful. There is a lot of protein, fiber and calcium. There is still a lot of sodium, but I am learning that is something I will have to accept if I am to continue eating frozen entrees.

I am now noticing that there is nowhere on the box where it rambles on about the merits of the taste of this product, perhaps because there aren’t many. Arthur Agatston (author of The South Beach Diet) has a quote on here about how he is proud to be working with Kraft on South Beach products. I can’t say that I share your enthusiasm, Art. I advise that you stick with being a doctor, and leave the creation of frozen food items to the experts.

comments

14 Responses to “South Beach Four Cheese Pizza”

tg on June 14th, 2006

you know, as i started to read this review, i got this chill. “something’s remarkably different today” i thought to myself. turns out it was your crazy-unpredictable write-it-mid-meal approach. i could feel the freshness. and the egg analogy, i think i CAN see a fried-egg image in that stamp-sized photo you’ve provided.

still, given all that — the egg analogy, the snappy freshness — i have to wonder: wottup with all the cheez items? (i.e., two days in a row)
Abi on June 14th, 2006

This is my fault. I thought I’d made sure I didn’t have two reviews in a row by the same person. Turns out I was wrong. Also, Amy is a vegetarian, so her meals consist of cheese. Speaking of vegetarianism, I’m now going to recommend that you read about the new invention from a Dr. Mironov of the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston:

http://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn3208

and

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_vitro_meat

Yes, that says “In Vitro Meat”

and

http://www.new-harvest.org/
Amy on June 14th, 2006

abi, thanks for clarifying. i would also like to point out that these meals were not eaten consecutively, but there are times, many times where i will have cheese two days in a row.
Abi on June 14th, 2006

There are times when you eat cheese as a part of three meals in a row. Cream cheese counts.
Amy on June 14th, 2006

ok, fine, you may have a point , abi, but i don’t usually have cheese w/ dinner and let’s face it, cheese is awesome and makes almost any meal better.
Phil on June 15th, 2006

I agree that cheese is awesome. This site is also pretty awesome. A cool feature might be to tell me what major chains carry these brands.
Kristen on June 15th, 2006

I think this may have been a glitch because my mom and I have had these several times with much tasty success. If I were you I’d give the South Beach Chicken and Mixed Veggie pizza a try, that’s my favorite. Good luck with your future eating.
Abi on June 15th, 2006

Phil - That’s a great idea. I know that Giant is a regional (Mid-Adlantic only) grocery store, so it would probably be something along the lines of whether or not a major retailer would carry the item. Other items could be categorized as specialies. I will brainstorm on how this could fit in with the rest of http://www.HeatEatReview.com.
P.S. Great design work on your site!

Kristen - We’ll have to grab one of those the next time they go on sale. One of our limitations on the site is that we don’t buy many full-price items.
Nicole on June 19th, 2006

Abi, you are so artful about calling us cheap.
Nettie Grella on January 31st, 2007

I have a problem finding the frozen South Beach Pizza. I have looked in Big-Y Markets, Price Chopper, Stop and Shop and A & P Market all in Connecticut. Could we purchase these great pizzia’s anywhere in the Waterbury, Naugatuck, New Haven Area Thanks Nettie
Emily on August 1st, 2007

I had the South Beach Chicken and Mixed Veggie pizza today from the oven! Oh my gosh! It tastes like the local pizza chain! AMAZING!
Lean Cuisine Traditional Deluxe Pizza | HeatEatReview.com on September 28th, 2007

[…] And unlike other microwaveable pizzas, the cheese on this pizza maintains a consistency similar to that of freshly-made pizza. I’m impressed with a microwaveable pizza that can avoid the pitfalls of bad cheese. […]
Sylvia Mackey on January 7th, 2008

I live in Baltimore, Maryland and have not been able to find the Deluxe Pizza and the Chicken and mixed vegetable pizza any more that I used to find at Safeway. Giant has even stopped carrying any South Beach items at all. I have filled out forms with managers at super markets, all promising to get back to me, but NONE have responded. I have also e-mail a South Beach website about where to find these pizza’s in Baltimore, and have received no response.
They must exist somewhere in Baltimore. I have really been dissappointed that no one responds to me. Please help. Thank you for a response,

Sylvia Mackey
just a fad on January 14th, 2008

Sorry sylvia, but the south beach diet thing is a fad…as most diets are. So many chains stock up on these items when the fads are hot, then after they sit on the shelf expiring and get tossed, they are usually shown the door. Most ordinary supermarkets have pretty much tossed out south beach diet by now,perhaps with the exception of the cookies. Try any health food chains in your area, probably your best bet. Also check out their website or call their 1800 number, see if you can find a way to get in touch with the company and find a place that still sells their products…