Much as I love the stuff, one of my pet peeves is chocolate for breakfast. Erk. It's wrong, on so many levels. As I tried to teach my daughter from an early age: chocolate is a sometimes food, it shouldn't be a major part of the food pyramid. That's why I loathe chocolate cereals aimed at kids. I'm not going to instill such negative eating habits in my child - the whole rewarding with food thing can lead to serious issues as you grow up.
So imagine, here I am this morning, racing through Coles when I spied this concoction on the shelves. Now, I'd always thought special K was one of those cereals that when you're trying to lose weight, you turn to. But now? Not so sure. Reading the ingredient list makes your blood boil. The first ingredients are rice and wholegrain wheat - good. Then sugar then, mmmm, 'chocolately chunks' which require a science degree to decode. Obviously a fair amount of the ingredients are some kind of sweetener. Oh, and there's fructose, and corn syrup - you know, the old 'break down the sugars into 20 different combinations so that 'sugar' isn't the first and main ingredient - but would be the majority ingredient if you combined all their unholy sweetness together.
No wonder so many people are confused about food and what they should and shouldn't eat. When a formerly reputable and reliable brand such as Special K deems it okay to eat chocolate at breakfast your average consumer is going to be confused. Not me, no Special K product, even the original which I actually like, is gracing my cereal shelf. Ever.
I found an all natural version of one of my fave cereals- Frosted Mini Wheats- no 20 different kinds of sugar and double the fiber of the original. It tastes fantastic and doesn't get sogged as quickly as the original either. That Special K chocolate kind is disgusting. Nolan MADE us buy it when it first came out (as an American male- He cannot get enough of artificial flavors and sweeteners) but we threw it out after his first bowl and my one bite. It was awful. If you look closely at it, the sugar levels are worse than some very sugary childrens cereals like Lucky Charms. Imagine that. That much sugar right before bed or first thing in the morning certainly WILL NOT enlarge anyone's hips or migraines for that matter, ugh.
ReplyDeleteMy hubby was HORRIFIED when I showed him this post this morning and is drafting an angry email to Kelloggs. However, I'm glad you found a nicer version of your fave cereal. I can't bear the thought of sweet cereals, but I don't mind a jam or honey spread on my toast or crumpets.
ReplyDeleteHoney or jam are different- they are crafted from nature. Therefore- calorie free! LOL- j/k.
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