I was taken aback when I first saw the commercial on television. “Cereal now boosts your immunity!” crowed the little elves commonly known as Snap, Crackle and Pop. I looked more closely at the package when I visited the grocery store that evening. (Yes, I visit the grocery – at least once every couple of days. I can’t keep food in this house to save my life. Kids and their insane desire to eat ten times a day.)
Cocoa Krispies were labeled, until last week, with a splashy logo touting a 25% daily value of antioxidants and nutrients – Vitamins A, B, C and E. To this mom, it seemed to capitalize on the H1N1/Swine Flu hype that has been ongoing. How will we protect our children? What can we do to keep them safe?
Hint: the answer is definitely not “Feed them Cocoa Krispies.”
Being a busy mom, I find that mornings are especially chaotic and not friendly to a leisurely, home-cooked breakfast. Not only that, my kids’ favorite breakfasts involve foods that are high in fat and calories and not healthy choices. One of the best breakfast options out there is cereal. So many cereals on the shelf are full of sugar, high fructose corn syrup, artificial colorings and lacking in protein – but appealing to kids, thanks to colorful pictures, candy-like flavors and cartoon characters. It’s hard to find a cereal that pleases both children and parents, but it is possible. Here are some guidelines that I try to follow when I’m shopping for cereal. (Psst – I never bring the kids.)
- Keep the sugar low - I remember when I was a child my mom always told me never to buy cereal with a sugar count over the magic number of “10.” Ten grams of sugar means that the box is 10% sugar, and that’s high enough for it to still be tasty.
When Thomas and his partner Noberto came to the U.S. from Europe, they were hungry for a cereal that tasted good and equally important was being good for then. They were amazed at the cereal options lining the shelves in the grocery stores, yet either found them unappealing in taste or the ingredients being used were low quality and unhealthy. Enter MojaMix. In 2008 their idea launched from the mixing and matching of whole grains, nuts, seeds, and fruits. All ingredients are sourced from local farmers and a majority of them are also fully organic.
When I spoke with Thomas I asked him what he felt was a big differentiator for MojaMix and he immediately said variety. Even at a Whole Foods where you can create your own granola mixes you don’t have all the options MojaMix offers with goji berries, hemp seeds and cacao nibs as just some of the examples of their extensive offering.
Packaged foods can present misleading health claims, cleverly tip-toeing around the laws that govern them. But sometimes, the FDA will say enough is enough.
Cheerios, the long-time favorite breakfast cereal, is making a claim that the FDA just can’t let fall through the cracks. The agency sent a warning letter to General Mills, telling them that they can’t label Cheerios as a treatment for high cholesterol and heart disease.
The FDA points to language on the Cheerios label:
One of the biggest keys to weight loss success is facing the reality of an accurate serving size. Let’s take this morning’s breakfast of cereal as a prime example, shall we? If you are anything like me, I stumble into the kitchen, blearily grab a box of cereal and a bowl, and dump the cereal into the bowl. I fill it most of the way full, and then add milk. I sit down and eat, not paying much attention until I get to the bottom of the bowl. Zzzzzz…
What’s the problem in this scenario? (Other than the fact that I’m eating while just about asleep, that is…) The almost certain culprit would be the way that I poured the cereal. Free form, loose and flowing are great things for art work, but they really play havoc on your diet. Flip that cereal box around, see where it say SERVING SIZE? Yeah, those words are actually there for a reason, not just as pretty filler for white space.
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