Which Cheerios is Healthier?

This shouldn’t be a trick question. But sadly, it is.

As your children are well aware, there are many many many varieties of Cheerios (Honey Nut, Chocolate, Apple Cinnamon, Peanut Butter, and so on) and when we’re all racing through the store in our eight minutes of allotted time to pick up groceries, reading SIDE labels may sound like a waste of time. Especially when there’s all that information right on the front of the box. But skipping over the side label would be a big mistake. Here’s why.

Which of these would you think is healthier based on the FRONT LABEL (aka the part you actually read?)

Cheerios Side By Side

Multi-Grain of course, right? I mean just look at those healthy grain colors…and the big words MULTI and GRAIN. Must be the better choice.

But if you looked closely at the side labels, here’s what you’d find.This is the label for plain old Cheerios. One grain. Oats.

Cheerios Original Label

This is label for Multi-Grain Cheerios, which does indeed have MULTIPLE GRAINS (corn, wheat, oats, barley, rice) – and THAT’S where it gets the name.

Cheerios MG label

However, what this healthy sounding variety doesn’t include is any more fiber than Original Cheerios. None. Baffling when you realize that’s what you think you’re getting with all those grains!

Instead, it has considerably more SUGAR. The purple box weighs in at 6g sugar per serving while Original has <1. (Don’t even get me started on Honey Nut or Chocolate which each have 9 grams!)

So, is it a disaster to buy Multi-Grain Cheerios? Certainly not. But with no more fiber and 5 extra grams of sugar, I’d stick with the big yellow box if you’re buying this brand!

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