You had me excited and interested...I thought there might be a cheaper way. But I checked out the nutrition labels and there's a strong leaning towards the Carnation Instant Breakfast vs Nesquik. There's a difference in serving sizes so a comparison of nutrition per serving has to be adjusted...the Carnation serving is 2¼ times the Nesquik serving by weight. All the below reflects the adjustment:

Calories come out almost identical, both have a lot of sugar but Quik has 45% more. Is that good or bad? Carnation has more than twice the protein. Carnation as 5½ times the iron (good) but it also has 18% more sodium (not so good). Carnation also has twice the vitamin C. Many of the other vitamins and minerals are pretty close in both products. But the rest of the list of vitamins and minerals shows Carnation to have an overwhelming advantage simply because they aren't listed/contained in Quik. After all is said and done, a serving of Carnation contains 130 kcal of energy, 2¼ servings of Quik has 135 kcal. (comparisons from caloriecount.about.com , Carnation Rich Milk Chocolate Original vs Nesquik Chocolate).

It's been years (decades?) since I purchase Quik, months since I last bought Carnation Instant Breakfast...I can't comment on the relative advantage by cost per serving. A significant price difference might change perspectives, especially when considering a multi vitamin/mineral tablet...

But in the end, none of this may make much difference. The nutrition amounts are small and, IMO, not meaningful for a weekend trip or even one of a couple weeks. Longer than that and things might change. Choices may simply come down to cost or, in my case, taste. Carnation offers vanilla (my favorite), to my knowledge Quik does not.

Thanks for pointing this out. Next time I'm stocking up I'll take a close look at prices. But right now, I have a hunger for some vanilla mixed with expresso. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

FB