Since Kellogg's cereals are about to go up in price, taking a look at some of the lower-priced alternatives to name brand cereals seems prudent. This month's Consumer Reports happily obliges us with their taste test of store brand frosted flakes (Kellogg's Frosted Flakes), toasted oats (GM Cheerios), and frosted mini wheats (Kellogg's Frosted Mini Wheats).
Frosted flake cereals are the least nutritious of the bunch, with about 120 calories, 12 grams of sugar and only 1 gram of fiber. Kellogg's well-known brand topped the taste test, tied with the lower-priced Malt-O-Meal version of the cereal. Other brands tasted slightly bitter. CR also noted that a few turned the milk bright yellow. Sounds like it's best to stick to the familiar in this case.
Toasted oats all did fairly well, with Malt-O-Meal and Stop&Shop brands coming out on top, along with the classic from General Mills. The runners up included Trader Joe's, Albertson's, Safeway, Publix and Target/Market Pantry, as well as a few others. All of the brands made their cereals with whole grains (4g fiber per 115 calorie serving), but some of the lower-priced brands tasted stale, so you might have to take a chance on your store brand and see how it fares. You can always make cereal bars if it doesn't work out.
All of the mini wheats cereals did well, with a nice balance of the sugary side and the crunch of the wheat. The best, along with Kellogg's Mini Wheats, were Malt-O-Meal and Kroger brands. The name brand was more than double the price of the store brands for this cereal, so it is definitely a good idea to opt for those over the name brand.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
8-08-2006 @ 9:09AM
Finished.Law.School said...
"Which store brand cereals stack up to national brands?"
None. There is a difference.
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8-08-2006 @ 11:44AM
Marc said...
The San Francisco Chronicle's "Taster's Choice" panel tested raisin bran in March, and four of the store brands beat Kellogg's. Five store brands beat Post. The top two---Cascadian Farms and Malt-O-Meal---received high enough scores to enter the Hall of Fame.
Full results: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/03/29/FDGP7HUFSV1.DTL&hw=malt+meal&sn=001&sc=1000
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8-08-2006 @ 3:03PM
Brian said...
I ALWAYS get the noname Rice Crispies. I have had them from lots of different stores and they always taste the same. Always.
Brian
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8-14-2006 @ 1:08AM
Lloyd said...
Referenced at http://breakfastbowl.blogspot.com/2006/08/cereal-and-bloggers_13.html
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11-02-2006 @ 12:05PM
Catherine said...
I think the Publix brand Raisin Bran cereal tastes MUCH better than Kellog's or Post. The raisins are actually plump and fresher tasting and the bran tastes like bran, not like cardboard. In fact, I've found that the Publix brand products taste the same if not better than brand name items and of course cost much less.Their chips taste just like Lays, their jellies and jams are identical to Welsh's etc...BUT..there is absolutely NO substitute when it comes to sodas...
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