Corn Bitz

Cereal Name: Corn Bitz (Fred Meyer Brand Corn Chex)

Type of Cereal: Snack/Breakfast Cereal

Primary Grain: Corn

Nutrition Information (based on 1-cup serving):
        Calories: 110
        Total Fat: 0g
        Sugar: 3g
        Fiber: less than 1g
        Protein: 2g

Top Five (and only) Ingredients: Corn Meal, Sugar, Salt, Barley Malt Extract, Baking Soda

In all of their glowing glory

Review: Corn Bitz are (obviously) the Fred Meyer store brand version of Corn Chex. As such, they are good at all of the things that Corn Chex are good at. As a dry cereal, they are a pleasant and crunchy snack. As a milk and banana complemented cereal, they are the perfect combination of textures. And as Muddy Buddies, they are a snacky dessert, which is remarkably hard to stop eating.

If you've never had Corn Bitz before, imagine Corn Flakes shaped like tiny cages, and you'll pretty much have it. I'm not sure that I like Corn Bitz as much as Corn Chex, but then again, I haven't had Corn Chex in quite some time so the comparison will have to wait. Overall, I can say with confidence that they are not a disappointment.

Organic Corn Flakes - Trader Joe's

Cereal Name: Organic Corn Flakes (Trader Joe's Brand)

Type of Cereal: Snack Cereal

Primary Grain: Corn

Nutrition Information (based on 1-cup serving):
        Calories: 110
        Total Fat: 0g
        Sugar: 2g
        Fiber: less than 1g
        Protein: 2g

Top Five Ingredients: Organic Milled Corn, Organic Evaporated Cane Juice, Sea Salt, Organic Barley Malt Extract, Soy Lecithin (an emulsifier)

Review: I got fancy Corn Flakes this week. I saw them at Trader Joe's and thought, "Hmmmmmm, I wonder if Organic Corn Flakes really taste any different from Budget Corn Flakes. . ." My hypothesis was that they would all taste exactly the same. However, I was wrong. The, ah, let's call it a "chemical finish" present in all of the Corn Flakes I have tasted thus far was not present in the Organic Corn Flakes. They were lighter and more delicate, and although they have the same amount of sugar as the other Corn Flakes, they  tasted somehow sweeter, in a fresh way.

I can only guess the superiority of the product must be a result of the fancy ingredients. This box was significantly more expensive than the other Corn Flakes I've tried, and I haven't quite decided if the added cost is worth it or not. It's a big decision.

Chocolate Toasted Oats

New Product!!!

Cereal Name: Chocolate Toasted Oats (Fred Meyer Brand)

Type of Cereal: Dessert Cereal/Snack Cereal

Primary Grain: Corn (somewhat ironically considering the name of the cereal)

Nutrition Information (based on  1-cup serving):
         Calories: 133.3
         Total Fat: 2g
         Sugar: 12g
         Fiber: 2.67g
         Protein: 1.33g

Top Five Ingredients: Whole Grain Corn Flour, Sugar, Corn Syrup, Cocoa Processed with Alkali, Whole Grain Oat Flour

But wait, it looks so familiar. . .

Review*: 

Of all of the classy and alluring cereals displayed in the cereal vault of the local Fred Meyer I was drawn to Chocolate Toasted Oats because it was $1.25 a box. My guess is that it has some kind of addictive quality, and the store is trying to get me hooked cheap and then keep me coming back for more, unable to live without Chocolate Toasted Oats as the price inches up further and further. . .

To be quite honest, I like Chocolate Toasted Oats better than Chocolate Cheerios. They have the same nutrition stats and the ingredients have only a slight variance, but somehow the Chocolate Toasted Oats just taste better. Maybe it's their clever name, or perhaps the way they float like little life preservers and spell out words like "oooooo" and "oooooooooo" and "o," or maybe I just like the color brown (I do, though I'm not partial to the word brown, unlike "grey" i really like that word AND color).

Anyway, they're on sale. And they taste good. So I say, go for it.

*This review brought to you by too much coffee and not enough food. My apologies.

Marshmallow Mateys

Cereal Name: Marshmallow Mateys

Type of Cereal: Dessert Cereal

Primary Grain: Oat

Nutrition Information (based on 1-cup serving):
        Calories: 120
        Total Fat: 1g
        Sugar: 13g
        Fiber: 1g
        Protein: 2g

Top Five Ingredients: Whole grain oat flour (includes oat bran), Marshmallows (sugar, corn syrup, modified corn starch, dextrose, gelatin, artificial flavor, yellows 5 & 6, red 40, blue 1), Sugar, Corn Syrup, Wheat Starch

Review: I have a special place in my heart for Malt-O-Meal cereals  as I went to college in the same town in which the Malt-O-Meal plant is located. We always had Malt-O-Meal cereals in our cafeteria and the sweet scent of baking cereal wafted through campus on a regular basis.

Marshmallow Mateys are sweet and crunchy with a slight slimy undertone (due to the marshmallows). The marshmallows are very colorful, nothing like the pastel mallows in Mallow Oats and they are also in very distinctive but not identifiable shapes. While Mallow Oats were regarded as ALL NATURAL, Marshmallow Mateys are not. Please let me compare and contrast their first five ingredients.

1) THE SAME
2) Sugar vs. Evaporated Milled Sugar, Artificial Flavors/Colors vs. Blueberry, Pumpkin, and Carrot Concentrates
3) Sugar vs. Evaporated Milled Sugar
4) THE SAME
5) THE SAME

Nutrition Information? Also the same.

I still like Mallow Oats better, but maybe that's just because they are marketed to me specifically.

mmmm, doesn't that red 40 look delicious?

Additionally, this raises an interesting point in that the branding and marketing intents of cereal are aligned more vertically (specific to the type of cereal) than horizontally (to the brand itself). The goal of the cereal is to make it taste like all of the other cereals that are essentially the same (Corn Flakes, Crisp Rice, Marshmallow/Oat, etc.) because that is what the consumer is expecting. Once that pre-requisite is met, the brand can then try to hook the consumer with bargain prices, pro-environment branding, places of distribution, bright colors, etc. But the primary requirement is that the cereal taste how it is supposed to taste. This is very different from many other types of non-consumable brand marketing (ie clothing, shoes, cars, etc.) where the independence and uniqueness of the brand are of utmost importance. I mean, the function is still important (if it's a running shoe, it had better hold up to running), but I think my point still holds true as cereals do not only hold the same purpose and function, they are essentially identical.

Corn Flakes - Hy-Top

Cereal Name: Corn Flakes (Hy-Top Brand)

Type of Cereal: Snack Cereal

Primary Grain: Corn

Nutrition Information (based on 1-cup serving):
         Calories: 130
         Total Fat: 0g
         Sugar: 3g
         Fiber: less than 1g
         Protein: 2g

Top Five Ingredients: Degermed Yellow Corn Meal, Sugar, Salt, Malt Extract

Review: Over the course of my extensive cereal-related research, I have noticed a trend in all Corn Flakes ever tasting the same, regardless of brand. I am pleased with this as I like Corn Flakes. However, I plan to extend my search until all easily accessible brands of Corn Flakes have been savored and compared.

The Hy-Top Corn Flakes have the same ingredients in the same order as both of the Fred Meyer Brands (Fred Meyer and Kroger), but they do not have the same Nutrition Information. The Hy-Top brand has twenty more calories per serving and one more gram of sugar. I have no idea why, and I can say with confidence that the difference is not detectable to the casual taster.

I didn't bother taking a picture of these Corn Flakes as they look the same as every other Corn Flake. However, I did take a picture of the absolutely delicious looking recipe on the side of the box. No Corn-Flake-Coated Chicken for Hy-Top, no way. Instead, they offer the secret recipe for the pined-after potluck favorite: Sour Cream Salmon Loaf. Enjoy.

Frosted Flakes

Cereal Name: Frosted Flakes (Trader Joe's)

Type of Cereal: Dessert Cereal

Primary Grain: Corn

Nutrition Information (based on 1-cup serving):
           Calories: 146.67
           Total Fat: 0g
           Sugar: 12g
           Fiber: 0g
           Protein: 2.67g

First Five (and only) Ingredients: Corn, Sugar, Glucose Syrup (Wheat and/or Corn), Barley Malt, Salt

Review: I don't buy frosted flakes, really ever. This box was purchased as a direct result of this blog. I don't know why I never purchase them. . . maybe just because if I'm going to eat a really sugary cereal, I would prefer that it was more special. And if I'm being entirely honest, I think I like regular Corn Flakes better than Frosted Flakes, and they are SO much less unhealthy (please note, I did not say more healthy).

NONETHELESS, the Frosted Flakes were very very good. Their hard sugary coating made them less vulnerable to getting soggy than regular Corn Flakes, and, um, they are a good size for fitting in one's mouth. Not likely to cause oral injury. Likely to be delicious.

Cinnamon Life

Now with classy retro branding!

Cereal Name:  Life (Cinnamon)

Type of Cereal: Breakfast Cereal

Primary Grain: Oat

Nutrition Information (based on 1-cup serving):
         Calories: 160
         Total Fat: 2g
         Sugar: 10.67g
         Fiber: 2.67g
         Protein: 4g

Top Five Ingredients: Whole Grain Oat Flour, Sugar, Corn Flour, Whole Wheat Flour, Rice Flour

(Banana not included in box)

Review: I didn't start seriously eating cereal until college. Somehow, after a few months of excitement with the choices, and the tray, and how everything seemed free, I gravitated to the cereal bar. My cereal compilation of choice was: Frosted Mini Spooners, Cracklin' Oat Bran, and Life (topped with natural peanut butter and banana - with soy milk). I had not experienced the joys of Life until college. And while regular Life cereal is pretty fantastic, CINNAMON Life is beyond fantastic. I think it is the only cereal that I honestly don't mind getting soggy. Those little intricately woven squares float for a blessed moment before becoming plump with milk and sinking with distinguished grace to lie with their fellows in a sweet mound of sodden perfection.

Too many words you say? You have obviously not eaten this cereal.

Do.