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Winter 2014 Index
Illustration: "Cereal Gang #2" by Landis Blair
Articles:
1. General Mills Features Muppets on Four Cereals
2. Ernie Button's Cerealism Photo Exhibition
3. Latest Cereal Statistics
4. General Mills Offering Comic Books Free Inside Boxes of Big G Cereals
5. Cheerios Is No Longer The Cereal of Choice for X-Men
6. F.A.C.T.S. Top 10 and Bottom 10 Cereals Ranked by Nutrition
7. Wax-Eye's "Cereal Boom" App
8. "The Great American Cereal Book"
Cereal Reviews:
1. General Mills Trix Swirls
2. Kellogg's Cinnamon Jacks
3. Post Good Morenings - Strawberry and Creme
4. Kellogg's Scooby-Doo!
5. Post C is for Cereal - A is for Apple
6. General Mills Lucky Charms - "Limited Edition" with Green Clovers
7. Kellogg's Frosted Mini Wheats CRUNCH - Brown Sugar
8. Quaker Oats - Cap'n Crunch's Halloween Crunch (2013)
9. General Mills - Frute Brute
10. General Mills - Fruity Yummy Mummy
11. General Mills - The Return of Frute Brute
12. General Mills - The Return of Fruity Yummy Mummy
13. Kellogg's Product 19
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What's New in Cereal?
Cereal Promotions and Coupons
Reminder: March 7 is "National Cereal Day!"
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"Cereal Gang #2" by Landis Blair © 2014
When I contacted award-winning pen & ink illustrator Landis Blair to see if would start work on an illustration for this issue, he had just pulled his last box of Boo Berry cereal out from storage in the back of the cupboard that he had stashed away from Halloween. "I feel like I am eating contraband...but it is so so good in January." Enjoy this exclusive illustration entitled "Cereal Gang #2". You can see more of Landis' work at LandisBlair.com |
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General Mills Features Muppets on Four Cereals by Topher
   In connection with the March 21, 2014 release of Disney's "Muppets Most Wanted" movie, General Mills has issued 4 cereal boxes featuring members of the cast: Fruity Cheerios with Animal, Chocolate Cheerios featuring Miss Piggy, Apple Cinnamon Cheerios with Kermit the Frog, and Gonzo the Great on Frosted Cheerios. These are beautiful boxes. The back of each box features a cut-out stage and 2 cut-out characters you can tape to a popsicle stick to create your own Muppet production. |
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Ernie Button's Cerealism Photo Exhibition
by Topher
 | Last year, Ernie Button's photography could be seen on exhibition at the Camerawork Gallery in Portland. He creates portraits and landscapes made from breakfast cereal which he calls "Cerealism". His cereal images focus on the individual nature of objects and the unique qualities that each possesses. Says Ernie, "My images often provide a voice to objects that are ignored and are frequently overlooked or taken for granted". 52 of his unique and wildly creative images can be found on his website. It's well worth the visit. The image at left is entitled: "Raisin + Bran". The image on the right is entitled "Bales Of Shredded Wheat 2". See the full size images and fifty more on his website. |  |
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Latest Cereal Statistics
by Topher | For the 52-weeks ended November 23, 2013, Kellogg's was still king of the cereal aisle selling almost 1 of every 3 boxes of cereal purchased in the USA. General Mills remains a close second with 28% of the market. Post, Malt-O-Meal, and Quaker Oats came in at 11%, 10% and 6% respectively --- all falling behind "Private Labels" which owns 3rd place with 12% of all units sold.
General Mills Cheerios (all varieties) represents almost 1 of every 8 boxes of cereal bought in America with 11.6% of the market. Kellogg's Frosted Flakes and Kellogg's Special K come in second and third with 5.4% and 4.9% respectively. Post Honey Bunches of Oats is a close fourth at 4.8%. Rounding out the top ten cereals (in terms of units sold) are: Kellogg's Frosted Mini Wheats (4.2%), Kellogg's Raisin Bran (3.6%), General Mills Cinnamon Toast Crunch (3.2%), Quaker Oats Cap'n Crunch (3.1%), General Mills Lucky Charms (2.8%) and Kellogg's Froot Loops (2.6%).
For more breakfast statistics from the past 15 years, see Topher's Breakfast Cereal Guide - Cereal Statistics. |
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General Mills Offering Comic Books Free Inside Boxes of Big G Cereals by Topher
 | Once again, General Mills is teaming up with DC comics to offer 4 different Justice League comic books (numbered #5, #6, #7, and #8) free inside specially marked boxes of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Reese's Puffs, Golden Grahams, Honey Nut Cheerios, Lucky Charms, Cookie Crisp, and Trix. A special edition fifth comic (#9) is exclusive to Target and available in boxes of Cheerios. The last time General Mills offered DC comics was in 2011. Interestingly, each comic book is only Part One of the story. You can to visit BigGCerealHeroes to enjoy Part two of each storyline. |
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Cheerios Is No Longer The Cereal of Choice for X-Men
by Topher
In early 2014, General Mills announced that it's "the unique and simple nature of original Cheerios that made this possible... we were able to change how we source and handle ingredients to ensure that the corn starch for original Cheerios comes only from non-GMO corn, and our sugar is only non-GMO pure cane sugar." So no more genetically modified organisms running around inside regular Cheerios? I never saw it as a problem before.
Following this announcement, I interviewed three genuinely artificial experts. Here are their more interesting comments:
1. Albert Greene, Canada's renown left-wing conservative. He once proposed that the United States change from Fahrenheit to Celsius to counteract higher temperatures from global warming: "Removing GMOs from original Cheerios is an important victory in getting GMOs out of our food supply".
2. Dr. Larry Albrite, 78-year-old curmudgeon and former bio-nutritionist. He won a 1962 Nobel Prize for extruding shapeless cereal pieces: "What's the big deal? All the GMO's in Cheerios became BDOs (Baked and Dead Organisms) by the time they landed in your bowl".
3. Deadpool, former X-men member known to enjoy a good snack. He once stabbed a buddy in the leg during a fight for a cheese puff: "I've been eating Cheerios for years absorbing every last bit of GMO's into my body. Sadly, I'll now look elsewhere". |
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F.A.C.T.S. Top 10 and Bottom 10 Cereals Ranked by Nutrition by Topher
The Food Advertising to Children and Teens Score (FACTS) was developed in 2009 to document the nutritional quality and marketing of cereals to children. Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity is source of this information. Here is their ranking of the top 10 and bottom 10 cereals marketed to children and families. |
Top 10 Cereals by Nutrition Score | Bottom 10 Cereals by Nutrition Score |
1 | Post - Shredded Wheat - original | 82 |  | Post - Pebbles - Cocoa | 26 |
2 | Barbara's Bakery - Shredded Wheat | 82 |  | Post - Pebbles - Fruity | 26 |
3 | Kashi - Kashi Puffs - 7 whole grains Puffs | 82 |  | Quaker - Cap'n Crunch - (Regular) | 28 |
4 | Post - Shredded Wheat - Spoonsize Original | 82 |  | Post - Pebbles - Marshmallow | 28 |
5 | Kellogg - Mini-Wheats - Unfrosted Bite-size | 82 |  | Quaker - Cap'n Crunch - with Crunchberries | 28 |
6 | Post - Shredded Wheat - Spoonsize Wheat 'n Bran | 82 |  | Quaker - Cap'n Crunch - OOPS! All Berries | 30 |
7 | Barbara's Bakery - Hole 'n Oats - Fruit Juice Sweetened | 78 |  | Quaker - Cap'n Crunch - Peanut Butter Crunch | 32 |
8 | General Mills - Fiber One - Original (Bran) | 78 |  | Kellogg - Special K - Chocolatey Delight | 36 |
9 | Kashi - Kashi GoLean - Original | 78 |  | Kellogg - Rice Krispies - Rice Krispies Treats | 38 |
10 | Kashi - Kashi (Shredded Wheat Type) - Island Vanilla | 78 |  | Kellogg - Rice Krispies - Frosted Krispies | 38 |
See detailed FACT sheets on these top 10 cereals | See detailed FACT sheets on these bottom 10 cereals |
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Wax-Eye's "Cereal Boom" App by Topher
It’s breakfast time for the stars of Wax Eye’s line of Cereal Killers Trading Cards. CEREAL BOOM is a mobile game app developed for the Iphone and Ipad. The mission is to feed Zomba Crunch, Apple Drac, and Eye Pop enough nutritious food to create a Cereal Boom before time runs out. The winner is rewarded with explosive animations and collectible, digital trading cards. Cereal Boom is a fast-paced and hilariously-gross. I'm looking forward to an Android version. Free download for first character and $1.99 for 2 characters. |
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"The Great American Cereal Book"
by Topher
"The Great American Cereal Book" is a full color 368-page hardcover tome of breakfast cereal. Co-authored by Marty Gitlin and Topher Ellis, the book features stunning photography from Rob Ritzenthaler and Don Chick.
350 images of cereal boxes, advertisements and premiums from 1863 to 2010 are gloriously presented along with historical information (complete with dates, ingredients, slogans, spokescharacters, and interesting facts) on all of your favorite, not so favorite, loved, and forgotten cereals.
Printed on high quality paper and strategically priced under $20, this massive (a whopping 1.5 inches thick and weighing in at almost 2.25 pounds) encyclopedia of cereal is available now at your favorite bookstore, online, or specialty retailer.
Mentioned and reviewed in The Wall Street Journal, N.Y. Times, Reader's Digest, Smithsonian Magazine, and countless other quality publications and websites. And as seen on TV, and heard on several radio stations. Wow!
New books that are personally inscribed and autographed by Topher Ellis can be ordered for $25 (includes Priority Mail shipping and a tracking number). Paypal accepted. Contact Topher. |
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Cereal Reviews by Shaun McCrary
General Mills Trix (Swirls) Trix came to market in 1954. "Swirls" first appeared in 2009. It's made of whole grain corn, sugar, corn meal and corn syrup. It looks, smells and tastes similar to "classic" Trix but the all-sphere design feels different in the mouth and of course there's the swirled colors on the balls. Trix floats on top of the milk and leaves the leftover milk flavor respectable, but leaning toward a sugary sog. Trix is a staple. 10 boxtops. (A Classic! Belongs On Every Breakfast Table.) |
Kellogg's Cinnamon Jacks Cinnamon Jacks is an offshoot from Apple Jacks featuring CinnaMon who was added as a spokescharacter to Apple Jacks in 2004. CinnaMon now has his own cereal, made of whole grain yellow corn flour, sugar, and wheat flour. Opening the box, the brown sugar cinnamon aroma gets you right away, enticing a tasting. Cinnamon Jacks has a very respectable flavor that reminds me of Cinnamon Toast Crunch (the king of cinnamon cereals) but misses the mark overall due to consistency. The milk afterwards was WAY too sugary. In contrast, Cinnamon Toast Crunch has a classic taste and texture that is overall much more satisfying. 6 Boxtops (Middle Of The Road. You Could Do Worse.) |
Post Good Morenings - Strawberry and Creme
Post - Good Morenings is a new line of large box, budget priced, cereals available in 14.5oz, 16.5 oz and 21 oz boxes. Strawberry and Creme is a crunchy corn flake cereal. Some flakes had more flavor than others but overall weak. The cereal misses the mark as the flavor taste profile is at a minor league level --- kind of a poor man's Honey Bunches of Oats. 5 Boxtops (Middle Of The Road. You Could Do Worse.) |
Kellogg's Scooby-Doo!
Kellogg's Scooby-Doo! has a good looking box, with Scooby ready to devour a bowlful of little tan bones that look like mini-Milkbone dog biscuits. Oh, if they only tasted as good. The smell is underwhelming with hints of boredom which accurately foretells the Bland Central Station experience that follows. It brings the milk flavor down. I couldn't finish it. Scooby-Doo! is the cardboard "whole-wheat pasta" of cereals. 2 Boxtops (Why Bother. Leave It On Your Grocer's Shelf.) |
Post C is for Cereal - A is for Apple
Post C is for Cereal - A is for Apple is one of three great concept "Sesame Street"-branded cereals aimed at toddlers. This box features Elmo. The other two feature Cookie Monster and Big Bird. These lively boxes practically jump off the shelves. C is for Cereal - A is for Apple boasts a "naturally apple flavored oat and corn cereal". The cereal itself is in the shape of X's and O's which helps train your baby for drawing up football formations. The cereal has an appearance like Cheerios or Alpha-Bits, but tastes HORRIBLE! Maybe I got a bad batch. Then again, maybe the intended target market wouldn't know any better and can't complain so a nearly flavorless cereal might go unnoticed. Post ought to get a prize for the concept and box art. I'd just like an apology. 0 Boxtops (Throw away!) |
General Mills Lucky Charms - "Limited Edition" with Green Clovers
General Mills Lucky Charms - "Limited Edition" with Green Clovers is really no different than classic Lucky Charms with their whole grain oats and multiple sugary marshmallow shapes, except the box is entirely filled with Green Clover marbits of various shades of green. It easily could have been called, "Oops! All Green Clovers". The box screams "St. Patrick's Day" without so much as saying so. I like Lucky Charms and there's nothing here that changes that. Lucky Charms have always left one of my favorite milk flavors. Lucky Charms is a staple. 10 boxtops. (A Classic! Belongs On Every Breakfast Table.) |
Cereal Reviews by Star Smith
Kellogg's Frosted Mini Wheats CRUNCH - Brown Sugar
Kellogg's Frosted Mini Wheats CRUNCH with Brown Sugar, a product of Canada, is made with 4 whole grains and brown sugar. What ever happened to "sugar" being a hidden ingredient? Not here. It's proudly emblazoned on the box, which even smells sweet when you open the package. In milk, it still tastes sweet but the mini wheat pillow gets pleasantly soft on the outside (without getting soggy) while the inside is crispy. The milk also tasted sweeter from the brown sugar in the cereal. I like the whole grains and fiber. The pieces could be a little smaller but other than that, it's really good. 8 Boxtops (Very Good! Recommend Purchase.) |
Quaker Oats - Cap'n Crunch's Halloween Crunch (2013)
Cap'n Crunch always celebrates Halloween and Christmas in style. This year's box features a jack-o-lantern with the Cap'n's face carved into it, and a cereal with ghost pieces that turns milk green. The usual main ingredients are all here: corn flour, sugar, oat flour, brown sugar, coconut oil, and salt. This cereal smells sweet, like Halloween candy. The milk makes the outside of the cereal a little mushy, but I like that the center stays crunchy. The crunchy orange ghost-pieces turn green in milk and makes the milk turn green. If it didn't cut the roof of my mouth, it'd be perfect! I like it. 8 Boxtops (Very Good! Recommend Purchase.) |
General Mills - Frute Brute
This Monster Cereal arrived in select stores last Halloween for the first time since 1982. (Noting however that the original cereal was spelled "Fruit Brute"). It was joined by Fruity Yummy Mummy as well as the usual trio of Boo-Berry, Franken Berry, and Count Chocula. One of the most iconic cereals of all time, Fruit Brute cereal appeared in a pair of 1990's Quentin Tarantino movies: "Reservoir Dogs" and "Pulp Fiction". The core ingredients as well as the shape and texture of all 5 cereals is identical: whole grain corn, corn meal, sugar, and marshmallows.
The primary difference, besides the characters on the box, is in the colors and flavorings used. Even the "spooky-fun" marshmallows are the same. Frute Brute has tan, orange and red pieces, and although it is billed as a "cherry flavor frosted" cereal it actually has a slight strawberry smell and flavor. The marshmallows have a crunch, even in milk. The cereal texture reminds me of Cap'n Crunch except that it doesn't cut my mouth. I would have enjoyed this even more if it had more marshmallows. 8 Boxtops (Very Good! Recommend Purchase.) |
Cereal Reviews by Eric Smith
General Mills - Fruity Yummy Mummy
Officially, this monster cereal was never considered a "Monster Cereal" by General Mills --- which never made any sense, especially since Yummy Mummy appeared in commercials with Boo-Berry, Franken Berry and Count Chocula. It was the last of the 5 monster cereals to be introduced (1987) and hadn't been seen in stores since 1992. Fruity Yummy Mummy was discontinued circa 1990. It was really cool to find him in both retro and new packaging this past Halloween. This review deals with the retro box which claims an "Orange Cream Flavor Frosted Cereal with Spooky Fun Marshmallows".
Out of the box, Fruity Yummy Mummy has a faint orange smell and a pleasant taste like an orange creamsicle. It is very good in milk, not overly sweet, and I like the way the orange flavor isn't too strong. The cereal itself is comprised of orange, and red, ghost-shaped pieces that remind me of the ghosts from the Pac-Man video game. The cereal definitely flavors the milk. Fruity Yummy Mummy tastes like a softer version of Cap'n Crunch. 8 Boxtops (Very Good! Recommend Purchase.) |
Cereal Reviews by Terri Ellis
General Mills - The Return of Frute Brute
[Editors Note: It should come as no surprise that the contents of this box were similar to cereal found inside retro boxes of Frute Brute reviewed by Star Smith, above.] The box itself is cool. The new Frute Brute looks like a handsome young crooning werewolf. TRO Frute Brute has orange pieces and red pieces that look like ghosts, although they could also fill in for werewolf snouts or paws. The cherry flavor is subtle. While it smells sweet, the cereal doesn't taste sweet except for the marbits --- which it really needs, otherwise it would be boring. The cereal imports a pinkish tint and a subtle cherry flavor into the milk. High praise for the box art. Low praise for the cereal. 5 Boxtops (Middle Of The Road. You Could Do Worse.) |
General Mills - The Return of Fruity Yummy Mummy
[Editors Note: It should come as no surprise that the contents of this box were similar to cereal found inside retro boxes of Fruity Yummy Mummy reviewed by Eric Smith, above.] TRO Fruity Yummy Mummy is a welcome addition to the Halloween cereal aisle. The Yummy Mummy character is both creepy and fun. The cereal is full of orange, and red, Pac-Man ghost-shaped pieces that float in milk. The red pieces are neutral in flavor while the orange pieces have an orange flavor that is slightly stronger than TRO Frute Brute's cherry flavor. The marbits help the flavor to the extent that I wouldn't be able to eat much of this cereal without their help. I rank it slightly better than TRO Frute Brute. 6 Boxtops (Middle Of The Road. You Could Do Worse.) |
Cereal Reviews by Topher, Editor
Kellogg's Product 19
Kellogg's Product 19 boasts 13 vitamins and minerals, and 4 grains (corn, oats, wheat, and rice) which equals, well Product 17. Since they didn't want to count the second ingredient (sugar) or the 210 mg of salt per serving (9% USDA), the marketing team needed to step in. "Lets add 1 'Simple Choice' and 1 'Positive Start'. Voilà! Product 19." Seriously, the cereal really got it's name from its distinction of being the 19th product being worked on at Kellogg's in 1967. The cereal is full of crispy flakes which are not too thick and are fairly bland, though they go really well with fresh sliced peaches. The flakes also begin to sog well before reaching the bottom of the bowl. 6 Boxtops (Middle Of The Road. You Could Do Worse.) |
What's New In Cereal? by Topher
General Mills Offers Coupons on Their Cheerios Website
The offers and promotions change. In early February they were offering the first 1 million visitors a "Buy 1 Get 1 Free" coupon at Cheerios.com for any variety of Cheerios. General Mills also offers printed and digital coupons for multiple brands at EverydaySaver. |
Kellogg's Offers Coupons on Their Family Rewards Website
The offers and promotions change. Kellogg's routinely offers a number of printable coupons at Kellogg's Family Rewards. Registration is required. |
Post Offers Coupons on Their Coupons and Promotions Page
Quaker Oats Coupon Site
The offers and promotions change. Quaker Oats wasn't currently offering any coupons at time of publication, but their Offers and Promotions page is where to find them when they do. |
Kashi Coupon Site
The offers and promotions change. Kashi also wasn't currently offering any coupons at time of publication, but their Coupons page is where to find them. |
March 7 is "National Cereal Day!"
Not a good day for toast or donuts. Celebrate with cereal. |
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If you notice anything new in your supermarket cereal isle, or wish to report a new cereal development, please email us. We'll give you credit for your information, or keep it confidential, at your request. Thank you. |
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