As Martha says, "It's a good thing."

[WeirdEyes]

It's about time! USA Today article regarding General Mills converting all of their cereals into whole grains. :)

 

http://www.usatoday.com/money/industries/food/2004-09-30-whole-grain_x.htm

[BuilderMan]

I wish it hadn't taken them so long to figure it all out, but I'm very glad that they're finally on the right track! :D

 

Lynn

[nosnobunny]

Yay!!! :D

 

Beth

[mellow]

Agreed. However, there just has to be something inherently wrong with "whole grain Trix". Isn't that an oxymoron or something? :D There are probably children on sugar high's all over American in mourning as we speak...

[nosnobunny]

Sad isn't it? Especially when all the information is right there on the package. You can't force people to read the labels. :rolleyes:

 

Beth

[BuilderMan]

We've bought several of the Lower Sugar cereals for our son (of course :D ) and they're really quite good too. Has anyone else tried them?

 

Lynn

[nosnobunny]

I stick to my Shreddies, Muffets or Puffed Wheat. No sugar at all. :)

 

Beth

[mellow]

I haven't eaten any cereal period in 2004. There are too many other things that I like better to use my carbs on. But I am, seriously, glad to see that they are beginning to offer parents more options in providing heathy choices for themselves and their children.

 

Now that my girls are older they like to give me a hard time about their school lunches. Both of them hated cafeteria food and so they both wanted packed lunches. I packed them sandwiches, carrot or celery sticks, low fat pretzels, and unsweetend/water packed fruit cups. All their friends had sandwiches with chips and HoHo's, cookies, etc. They were so jealous! And needless to say, only rarely would anyone want to "swap" lunches with them. But after they get finished giving me a hard time, they both thank me for not letting them be overweight kids. (Needless to say, given my weight problems, you can all probably figure out that I did a LOT of sneaking around with my sweets.........:eek: )

[MrsPete]

I'm skeptical. The food industry has a long history of deceptive marketing intended to fool those who only read front of the package, and cereal makers are leading the pack. Ever notice that line on the kids' cereal commercials, "Part of a balanced breakfast". Then they show you a bowl of cereal with berries on top surrounded by a glass of milk, another glass of juice and some type of protein? Your brain hears, "This cereal is a good breakfast." That's not what they said at all! It's deceptive.

 

Example: I usually buy store-brand bread, which is offered in two varieties: White bread and Wheat bread. The name leads you to believe that the second is whole-wheat, right? Nope. ALL bread (okay, okay, the great majority) is wheat bread! If you read the tiny nutritional info on the side, you see that it's almost identical to the white bread. They've added a few whole wheat grains (waaaay down the ingredients line) and some brown coloring.

 

Another example: This low-sugar cereal that's being marketed to kids now is full of artificial sweetener. Most of us don't allow our kids to drink diet drinks or have other foods with Aspertame, etc. Yet we're supposed to let them have it in cereal?

 

Yet another example: The nutritional information on the back of the packages says that a certain product contains 10% of your recommended fat for the day. BUT you have to realize that they're basing that on a 2000 calorie diet. So if you're aiming for 1000 calories per day, it's really 20% of your recommended fat.

 

Anyone ever take a nutrition class in college? I did, and it was an eye opener! The sad thing is that I know what I should do, and I ignore it!

 

I hope this is for real, but I'll believe it when I've seen it on the shelf and I read the nutritional value. Like I said, I'm skeptical.

[indiaksue]

This is good news. I think it will be something that will continue to trickle down in the food chain. Seems like the intro to low carb stuff just ballooned and now it is hard to find stuff for us low fat diet people. But anyway, maybe it will help with bringing about better nutrition for lots of things. I think they should start with the school lunch program. That is terrible. It isn't that the food they fix is so bad, but the options that they have on top of the regular stuff. My teen I know probably eats pizza and chicken strips everyday. He lives with his mom so we don't really have any control over his lunch.

 

I do agree with MrsPete, it is so important to read labels and understand basic nutrition. It is too bad that most don't do it.

 

Angie

[MrsPete]

Well, yes and no to the school lunch program needing help.

 

The truth is that they offer healthy choices, but the students tend to go for the pizza, fried chicken sandwiches, nachos, etc. rather than the turkey sandwich on wheat or yogurt. There's no excuse for not knowing because the cafeteria staff marks the healthier choices with big purple stars (this is true in my children's elementary school and in my high school). They make small quantities of the healthier choices because they know they won't sell.

 

They're also working with a very small budget, but that's another topic altogether.

[Slinkiecat]

Sweetened cereals will never be actually good for kids, and the whole wheat is only another marketing gimmick. Until they take out the sugar, coloring and artificial flavor, it remains a junk food.

 

I eat raisin bran with sliced banana and skim milk, some cantaloupe and toasted rye bread for breakfast. I have to maintain a low fat diet due to my cholesterol level, and I've found it helps a lot in controling my weight as well. The low carb approach would never work for me.

 

Slinkie

[adoptmom]

I agree Shelia,

 

We rarely buy any of that stuff anyway due to my youngest's allergy to corn. Probably the most sweetended stuff she gets is frosted shredded wheat. :rolleyes: At least she's getting some decent fiber and no coloring there. Believe me I thought I already knew about food labels but I've learned a whole lot more in the past 10 months. My grocery bill can prove it too. When you cut out the overly processed junk your grocery bill goes sky high.

 

I saw the whole "whole grain" thing advertised and just kind of rolled my eyes. In my mind it's an excuse to charge more for a smaller box. Still, when compared to many things cereal is cheap in money and time cost and for alot of parents those are big factors in the morning. They aren't at school to see the kids crashing by 10am because of lack of "sticking around power" of kids' cereal. I know if I eat a bowl of it I'm ready for lunch by 9:30.

Unless they also add some protein that's not going to change much with their whole grain mix.

 

I don't know how many of you still have kids young enough to be watching kids' programming on TV but good grief! I remember commericals when I was a kid which were aimed at selling toys, cereal, tang, etc but today kids are literally assaulted by 10 or more commericals each break. They're loud, flashy and built around peer pressure. I can't even imagine what it would be like if my kids went to school and actually came home thinking they had to have those things because Johnnie or Suzie did. We've talked about marketing strategies alot lately because the commericals are gearing up for the holidays already!

[WeirdEyes]

Several of you have made some good points about the marketing of the cereals. I always read the labels AND the ingredients before I buy anything I haven't eaten before. The only cereal I eat is Post Shredded Wheat 'n Bran (South Beach Diet approved). My son doesn't eat cereal....he's not much of a breakfast person. When he does "eat" breakfast, he drinks the "no sugar added" instant breakfast with skim milk. Of course, on the weekends, when he sleeps late, he eats whatever his Dad or I cook...which is always healthy.