A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to give away a Cascadian Farms gift pack. To thank me for doing the giveaway, they sent me the same gift pack. I finally got a chance to open it up and check it out when my son came by the other day. We separated the goodies – he took all the granola-type bars, but I snatched up the Kid’s line of cereals. The first I tried was their Cascadian Farms Organic Fruitful O’s Cereal.
I have to say, I was delightfully surprised at how delicious they are! I thought that once I decided to remove processed and unnatural foods from my diet I’d have to give up some of the guilty pleasures left over from my childhood. One of them being sweetened cereal. Now I know there’s really nothing great about cereal, but every now and then I like to indulge. I knew I’d never eat Fruit Loops again, but these Cascadian Farms Fruitful O’s are just as good, AND they’re organic and NATURAL! I’m thrilled!
I checked my local store and they don’t carry the Kid’s Cereal line. My next step was Amazon. I’m a huge fan of their Subscribe and Save program – I use it for both food and household products. I was thrilled to find that not only do they carry these, they have a current promotion that discounts them even further! Since I’ll receive 6 boxes at a time, I signed up to receive them once every 6 months (I get recycled toiled paper & P’sghetti Loops monthly – the program is very flexible).
But even better, in addition to the normal 15% S&S program discount, right now they have an additional 15% off select Cascadian farm cereals and granola bars sold by Amazon.com (enter code GNMLS8O3 at checkout). This means a total savings of 30% (Offer valid through May 31, 2010) so I’m getting six boxes for $17.84 ($2.97 a which includes shipping!). I think it’s a fabulous deal on some fabulous cereal!
Is Cascadian Farms Organic Fruitful O’s Cereal perfect? No, it’s high in sugar and calories, but it’s organic and the calories come from REAL food. The main difference is the color – these are subtle colors, not the neon-bright of Kellogg’s. I’m not saying which is best for you, I’m just letting you know what I’ve chosen, why, and tried to provide information and links so you can make your own choice.
Here’s my jr. detective look at the ingredients:
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Calories: 110/1cup Total Carbohydrates: 25g (12g sugar) |
Cascadian Farms Organic Fruitful O’s Cereal (General Mills)
Calories: 120/1cup Total Carbohydrates: 27g (9 sugar) |
| SUGAR; WHOLE GRAIN CORN FLOUR; WHEAT FLOUR; WHOLE GRAIN OAT FLOUR; OAT FIBER; SOLUBLE CORN FIBER; PARTIALLY HYDROGENATED VEGETABLE OIL (ONE OR MORE OF: COCONUT, SOYBEAN AND/OR COTTON- SEED OILS)†; SALT; SODIUM ASCORBATE AND ASCORBIC ACID (VITAMIN C); NIACINAMIDE; REDUCED IRON; NATURAL ORANGE, LEMON, CHERRY, RASPBERRY, BLUEBERRY, LIME AND OTHER NATURAL FLAVORS; RED #40; BLUE #2; TURMERIC COLOR; YELLOW #6; ZINC OXIDE; ANNATTO COLOR; BLUE #1; PYRIDOXINE HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B6); RIBOFLAVIN (VITAMIN B2); THIAMIN HYDROCHLORIDE (VITAMIN B1); VITAMIN A PALMITATE; BHT (PRESERVATIVE); FOLIC ACID; VITAMIN D; VITAMIN B12. † LESS THAN 0.5g TRANS FAT PER SERVING. |
Whole Grain Oat Flour*, Corn Meal*, Sugar* (From Cane), Tapioca Syrup*, Oat Fiber*, Wheat Starch*, Sea Salt, Sunflower Oil*, Color (Elderberry Juice Concentrate, Turmeric* And Annatto*), Fructose*, Natural Flavor.Vitamin E
(Mixed Tocopherols) Added To Preserve Freshness. Vitamins And Minerals: Calcium Carbonate, Zinc And Iron(Mineral Nutrients), A B Vitamin(Niacinamide), Vitamin B6(Pyridoxine Hydrochloride), A B Vitamin(Folic Acid). *Organic Contains Wheat. May Contain Soy And Sesame Ingredients. |
What I find troubling:
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What I love about these:
Cane sugar – it’s the 3rd ingredient, not the first, and the source is clearly stated. Sunflower Oil – natural, unprocessed and vegetarian unsaturated fat. ALL NATURAL dyes are used to softly color these-
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Why do companies use synthetic coloring and flavors? They’re cheaper which means more profit in their pocket. We have a choice about what’s in our food. Stop buying “fake” food and the big companies will change!
DISCLOSURE & NOTE OF CAUTION: I received a free box of this cereal as part of a previous giveaway campaign – I was not asked to review this product and I’m not receiving any compensation for doing so. I’m simply providing information on a product that I found that I loved. Additionally, I am not a health professional and do not claim to have any knowledge other that what I’ve researched. I’ve made these choices for myself and my family. Please seek the advice of your health professional to determine what’s best for you and your family.
You should take note that you need to combine the quantity of fructose and sugar to get the real total sugars. This is a trick the “natural” packagers use to hide that they are essentially putting the equivalent of HFCS in their products.
Sugar is 50% glucose, 50% fructose. They then add more fructose as an ingredient. Guess what HFCS is? 45% glucose, 55% fructose. They are getting the same sugar content in, but just calling it different things. When you add the fructose and sugar together, would it possibly even bump that ingredient up the list?
While many fake colors and flavors are likely unnecessary, that 1 cup of the “natural” product has more calories than the other, the products are in many ways equivalent as far as the most dire and direct impacts if either was over-consumed. Fat, inflammation, etc.
Don’t over-eat and support continued product safety research into food science of colors and flavoring.
[...] Cascadian Farm Organic Kids Fruitful O’s Cereal is Delicious! (miscfinds4u.com) [...]
[...] make them a rare addition to breakfast instead of the norm. If you can’t, at least switch to organic cereals which generally have less sugar. But it’s better to feed children a more complete meal. [...]