Monday, October 26, 2009

How Healthy is Your Breakfast Cereal?

Cereal is about as commonplace in the American home as peanut butter and jelly (unless you are allergic, I guess). At some point in our nations history, whole cereal grain breakfast that took minutes or hours to prepare were replaced by highly processed refined grain "cereals" that had loads of added sugar and went by the name of Cap'n and Lucky.

Until today's release of the Yale Rudd Center's Cereal Facts website, there was little way to know whether the cereal you were eating was healthy or all hype. Case in point: a friend posted a picture of Facebook with a Fruit Loops box reading "NOW WITH FIBER" on the front package (see yesterday's post for more on this...) which clearly illustrated food industry's widespread marketing of unhealthy food with their "healthy" components placed first, and foremost for consumers to see.

Many of the lowest and highest rated cereals came as no surprise. However, I bet many will be shocked at seeing 'Fiber One' in the lowest 10 for its caramel flavored cereal product, as well as the sweeter versions of Special K. Those sound like healthy cereals right? But looks can be deceiving, even to the discerning eye. Though, I will say proudly that I passed up buying said Fiber One while shopping in Target a few months ago because of its use of high fructose corn syrup.

Check it out and see whether your breakfast cereal makes the grade. Let me know what you find!

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