Cheerios used to be thought of as one of the “good” cereals, but over the years, General Mills has capitalized on the Cheerios name to produce UN-healthier, alternative flavors like Dulce de Leche Cheerios and Chocolate Cheerios. And now Peanut Butter is part of the Cheerios flavor family!
Cheerios Multi-Grain Peanut Butter cereal ingredients:
Whole Grain Corn, Sugar, Peanut Butter (peanuts, monoglycerides), Whole Grain Oats, Whole Grain Sorghum, Whole Grain Barley, Whole Grain Rice, Corn Syrup, Dextrose, Salt, Canola and/or Rice Bran Oil, Peanut Oil, Color Added, Vitamin E, and BHT. Vitamins and Minerals: Calcium Carbonate, Zinc and Iron (Mineral Nutrients), Vitamin C (Sodium Ascorbate), a B Vitamin (Niacinamide), Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine Hydrochloride), Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin), Vitamin B1 (Thiamin Mononitrate), Vitamin A (Palmitate), a B Vitamin (Folic Acid), Vitamin B12, Vitamin D3
Even though there are a lot of whole grains on the list, one small serving of Peanut Butter Cheerios offers only a paltry 2g of fiber, along with 9g of sugar (sugar, corn syrup & dextrose.)
No, 9 grams isn’t earth shattering, but do you know how small a serving of 3/4 cup is? Pretty small. My guess is, most consumers will go for 2 servings, which brings the sugar up to 18 grams.
It’s even sadder that regular Cheerios now has ingredients like “modified corn starch” and “wheat starch” – Do you think these highly-processed ingredients were part of the package years ago when Cheerios were first produced? I doubt it.
Consumers don’t realize that highly processed grains (like in commercial cereals) do not offer the same qualities and benefits as fresh whole grains. Plus, there’s the issue of GMO corn and soy, along with sugars, unnecessary oils & emulsifiers (monoglycerides), preservatives, and colors.
And why all the extra added vitamins?
I’m so sick of Big Food adding a few synthetic vitamins and declaring their product a health food. (WhoNu, anyone?)
Let’s just keep the vitamins in our fruits and vegetables, and stop the sneaky marketing!
BEWARE! Peanut Allergies
And one more BIG strike against General Mills is that this is going to cause a lot of peanut allergy issues due to the similarity to regular cheerios!
It’s especially disconcerting since the packaging for both the multi-grain peanut butter and plain multi-grain look very similar. Plus the actual cereal pieces are virtually identical as well.
It’s been reported that a parent accidentally brought home a box of the peanut butter cereal and thankfully his wife caught the error before serving it to their allergic child.
Links:
So What’s Next General Mills?
So what’s next General Mills? Will you come out with Birthday Cake flavored Cheerios? How about Bacon flavored Cheerios?
Maybe someday, consumers will stop falling for Big Food’s cute clever marketing, but then what would Big Pharma do if the world was free of obesity, cancer, diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure?
There’s not a single “big food” cereal I will buy for my kids (I don’t eat it anymore myself, because it’s one of those foods that I can mindlessly eat the entire box before noticing…and, yes, the serving sizes are utterly ridiculous). I spent a good half hour in the aisle one day reading ingredients on all the ones that have a “healthy” image — plain Cheerios being one of them (and I believe sugar is the 3rd ingredient on the list, followed up by all the modified this and emulsified that and fortified BS) — as well as different brands of raisin bran, wheat flakes, etc. and I could not find a single one that wasn’t full of various forms of sugar. So, guess what? They get plain oatmeal now, mix in a sliced banana or some berries, some cinnamon and maybe a tsp. of peanut butter and they’re fine with it. Boxed big food cereal is no good.
I hear ya, Norma. It’s like dessert in a box. Even the stuff at WF has sugar. Why oh why does healthy rice krispies and corn flakes need sugar? Even if it’s only 1 or 2 grams? I don’t like that.
I’d love to make my own cereal someday, I know it sounds fairly easy to make grape nuts (graham nuts), I’ve seen recipes online and in books.
I occasionally do buy Barbara’s shredded wheat for DH, to keep at work in case I don’t make him lunch, and I love Barbara’s Shredded Spoonfuls, my guilty pleasure. I weigh a serving and that’s what I eat as a snack. It’s only occasionally though. the box keeps for months! haha
Oh my gosh, you are right on, and don’t get me started on the WhoNu brand. Adding in vitamins into junk food is just junk food with added vitamins! Sadly, enough people buy into it, or they wouldn’t do it!
oh yeah, Angela, there are way too many people buying into the misleading marketing. It’s such a shame, but I can’t blame most people. They are just too trusting that it wouldn’t be out there unless it was true.