In a tough economy, parents are looking to save money wherever they can -- including at the grocery store.

A simple solution may be to opt for the generic brand instead of the name brand. But while your kids might ask for the brand they're more familiar with, can they actually taste the difference between the name brand and the generic products?

Two 12-year-old boys -- Will and Jared -- took a blind taste test to see if they could identify which was the cheaper product.

The seventh-grade boys were asked to test Green Giant vegetables, Quaker instant oatmeal, Oreos cookies, Lays potato chips and Sunkist orange soda against their generic near-twins. The name brand items, at suggested retail prices, totaled $12.24. The generic, store brand equivalents cost $9.34, a savings of $2.90 -- or about 31 percent.

Sunkist Soda

Two small glasses of orange carbonated goodness put before Will and Jared. Both took their inquisitive sips, and boldly declared that the store brand was Sunkist.

"I've had a lot of Sunkist," declared Will. "It has a lot more fizz (than the generic brand)."

Jared agreed, pointing to the cup of generic pop he also thought was Sunkist. "Fizz is better."

When both urchins were told they picked the cheap stuff, looks of indignation crossed their brows. Sure, they had lost round one, but there were more samples on the way.

"If we would do that over again, I would have gotten that right," Will boasted. Bring it on, junior.

Lays Potato Chips

Two bowls of chips were then set before the boys. They munched. They stared at the contours and the coloring of each product. The flavor? Sour cream and onion.

"I thought they tasted the same," bellowed Jared. Will agreed with that notion, but also commented on the physical characteristics of the chips, saying they "had burnt edges."

Will identified the Lays pile from the store brand bag. Jared was wrong again, thinking the generic chips were the real deal. He would find vindication in the oatmeal division.

Quaker Oatmeal

In the instant oatmeal taste test, each participant insisted their samples didn't get too watery. Will asked if he could pour maple syrup over the entire mess. Only the first request was granted.

After downing a few spoonfuls apiece, each again declared that the samples basically tasted the same. Will incorrectly identified the generic oatmeal as the Quaker product. Jared, however, finally got one right.

"The apple bits in this one (pointing to the generic bowl) didn't have as much apple taste," Jared said.

"That's just stupid," Will crabbed, irritated that he was duped again.

Green Giant Corn

Neither kid had a clue when it came to the corn. Pointing to the generic vegetable, Jared said, "This one tastes fresher."

Will was in agreement, commenting that the store brand tasted juicier.

Both were astonished when told that they had a hankering for the cheaper stuff. Could it be that these two weren't familiar with the general concept of vegetables in the first place? Hungry for victory, it was time for something each had a great knowledge of -- the cookie phase of the experiment. It was Oreos or bust.

Oreos Cookies

In this taste test, it was imperative that the cookies were crumbled before eating. Both subjects were not above cheating, and reading the "Oreo" label stamped on each sample would not be beneath them. But it didn't matter.

Each boy nailed this one. Pointing to the more expensive Oreo, Jared noticed that the cream filling was thinner than the store brand.

Will had a similar point. "These are easier to bite into," he said of the name brand. "These are the best."

The Nutritionist

So were there any surprises from this experiment? Not really, according to University of Minnesota nutritionist Jamie Stang. She said the blander the food, the harder it is for kids to tell what they're eating.

"Pasta, bread or milk -- things that don't have a lot of spice -- kids can't tell the difference," Stang said. "But if it's something that has a sauce or a spice on it, like salsa or spaghetti sauce, they're pretty tuned in."

Her advice is for parents to lighten up and buy a name brand food item if it really means that much to a child, especially if they can identify a certain spice or flavor.

But when it comes to blander food, Stang said there's no reason not to stock up on generics. From a nutritional standpoint, she says there's really no difference.

"A lot of times, the Green Giant vegetables come off the same line as the store brand vegetables," Stang said. "They just change the labels. So it's actually the same product."

Food For Thought

As for Will and Jared, they were fairly civil about the possibility of eating generic brands.

"I wouldn't reject any of them." Jared said.

Will wouldn't go that far, especially when faced with the possibility of cookies he said tasted like sand.

"The only thing I care about is Oreos," he declared. "And pop."

Spoken like someone entering seventh grade, yet to pay a bill.