At first, we thought that perhaps Glico had come out with two editions of exactly the same product. There was only one way to find out the truth – we put our taste buds to the test.

After much deliberation, I, official taster of snacks and sweets, can now assure you that, however subtle, there is a difference between the two.

Glico - Pretz Condensed Tomato Sticks

Glico Condensed Tomato Pretz comes in a red box, decorated with none other than… tomatoes. There are four servings to a box, and each serving of Pretz sticks comes in a gold-colored packet. The Pretz sticks themselves smell a bit like tomato sauce – the kind with chunks of squashed tomato in them that you would pour over your pasta. This flavor tastes a bit sweeter than the Tomato Pretz Biscuit Sticks, and the taste isn’t as strong. If you can read Chinese or Japanese, you’ll see that the first character there on the box (yes, the one right below “PRETZ”) means “condensed” – so what it basically means is that the Pretz sticks are made using condensed tomatoes. You can also taste some onion flavors and some other spices and seasonings in there. There’s a bit of a smoky flavor in there as well, and the taste lingers a bit, even after you finish eating the Pretz stick.

Glico - Pretz Roasted Tomato Sticks

Tomato Pretz Biscuit Sticks come in (mostly) white boxes of four servings each as well, although the servings are a bit larger. This time, each serving comes in a green packet. You can see bits of herbs and seasonings and whatnot on the biscuit sticks. The taste is stronger and a bit saltier – slightly cheesy, too, if you think about it. It reminds me of pizza. There’s a bit more variety in flavor, although it doesn’t have the smoky taste. If you look at the ingredients, more seasoning has been added, including onions, celery, parsley and basil among others.

Pretz sticks are pretty handy as snacks. You can get creative with them and combine them with your favorite dip, although plain will do just as well.

Find these Pretz and many more Japanese Snacks at PierMall.com