Yahoo News We tried Marks and Spencer's new white strawberries... here's our honest thoughts
Fake. Unripe. Chocolate dipped.
These were just some of the assumptions that the Women's Health team made about Marks and Spencer's new white strawberries - but we can tell you, hand on heart, that we were wrong - on all three counts.
Upon taking delivery at the office (they are 100% not a fake product invented for clout and released weeks ahead of April 1), our intrigued oohs-and-aahs rapidly became replaced with 'are they ripe?'
I'll be honest, biting in to a white strawberry picked from a plant is usually a terrible experience, the unripe berry crunchy and bitter - but these berries, which are the Florida Pearl variety, are meant to be this colour.
Inside their flesh is the same white colour, but they have tiny red seeds, which can give the exterior of the fruit a pinkish hue.
The same size and weight as their 'normal' red counterparts, the white strawbs share a familiar, but muted, taste. They're certainly not as juicy as a red one, but the ones we tried were firm to the bite.
M&S' packaging states that the white strawberries have a "pineapple aroma and hint of vanilla". In fact, the University of Florida, who developed this strain using special seeds from Japan, even refer to them as 'pineberries' due to their parallels to the spiked tropical fruit.
None of the team who tried them picked up on either of those specific attributes, but there was more than one person who had a surprise when they realised that the fruits were not covered in white chocolate.
The Collection White Pearl™ Strawberries are available to shop in M&S Foodhalls now, priced £4, and are the latest 'hybrid fruit' offered by the iconic supermarket. They previously released green grapes that had a candy floss taste, and 'kiwi berries'.
Final verdict: Fun to try but red is best.
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