Float like snack food, sting like a bee

Muhammad Ali may be out of the boxing ring, but he's got a new challenge to tackle: the snack-food industry.

In honor of his 65th birthday yesterday, Ali, along with Peter Arnell - chairman of the New York-based product-invention company Arnell Group - launched a new line of snack foods at the Penn Bookstore, with samples available at Bookstore registers.

Those snacks, called G.O.A.T. - an acronym that stands for "Greatest of All Time," an Ali trademark - were also launched at Yale, Ohio State, Texas A&M; and Georgia Tech universities, and will be introduced to 20 other schools by this spring.

The snacks will be sold in three different varieties, named after boxing moves - Rumble, Shuffle and Jabs -and sport names like "Who's the Mango" and "Fruit Fight."

Promoting healthful eating among young people is especially important to Ali and the creators of G.O.A.T, Arnell said in a press release.

For example, G.O.A.T. products were designed to meet the health standards for the California public school system and have fewer than 150 calories.

In addition, the Rumble variety is described as a "fruit crumble," and each bar includes a full serving of fruit. However, Shuffles and Jabs are crispier alternatives that don't contain fruit, with names like "Slammin' Salsa" and "Thrill-A-Dill-A."

"G.O.A.T. foods have the nutrition, taste, style and attitude to empower people to eat like champions and walk like kings," Ali said in a press release.

Ali and Arnell chose Penn as one of the premiere launching sites because of the University's "extraordinary commitment to higher education, fitness and health and their close-knit community," Arnell wrote.

Ali has been working to release these foods with Arnell for the last two years - a project, it seems, that resonates close to his heart.

"Food has been a huge part of training in Muhammad's life, so he's got a great interest in the recipes," Arnell said in a phone interview. "All the flavors and products have come out [of] his history of his favorite foods."

Wrapped in silver foil that bears Ali's reflection in the background alongside the brand's big, orange lettering, each package also features a quote from Ali himself.

"The will must be stronger than the skill," for example, is written on the back of a "Rumble" snack bar.

The launch received a variety of reactions from those students who chose to sample.

Brian Gralnick, a graduate student at the School for Social Policy and Practice, said the snacks tasted too sugary.

"It kind of reminded me of Fruit Loops, but it didn't taste nearly as good," he said of the "Fruit Fight" flavor. "I actually spit it out."

Others had a more positive experience.

"It was better tasting than a lot of other energy bars," College freshman Alec Bleday said.

And beyond the actual taste, some pointed to the food's quirky names.

"They're very creatively named," College freshman Sarah Feldman said. "I mean, what's a 'Thrill-A-Dill-A?'"

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