RALEY'S WINS ON-AIR DOUGHNUT TASTE TEST

PAT NATSCHKE LENIUS

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- Doughnuts from the in-store bakery of Raley's here won out over doughnuts from other supermarkets and freestanding doughnut shops in a recent tasting by law enforcement officers.

The tasting was part of a recent "test lab" segment of a morning talk show on KFBK-AM radio here, which is aired from 5 to 9 a.m., according to Jim Burrows, a producer at KFBK.

"We do a segment on the program in which we test various products. It is very tongue-in-cheek. For this segment, we requested a plate of doughnuts from six different stores in the area: Raley's, Bel Air, Albertson's and three doughnut shops. Each store supplied us with a big plate containing a variety of doughnuts," he said.

Five judges, including local, county and state troopers and a shopping mall cop, tasted the doughnuts on the air and voted on their favorites. When the results were tallied at the end of the program, Raley's had won.

"There were no rules. It was very unscientific," Burrows said.

There was no prize, either.

Raley's bakery executives were unavailable for comment. Local sources said Raley's doughnuts are frozen, prefried products.