HONEY NUT CHEERIOS - MORE SUGAR THAN FROOT LOOPS

Information updated January 2024

Once upon a time, Cheerios were called Cheerioats. The cereal was 75% ground Oatmeal, as noted on the historical package below:

Decades later, General Mills began making new flavors of Cheerios. According to IRI, Honey Nut Cheerios is the #1 branded cereal in the U.S. in dollar sales. (Source: IRI, 2024)

Q: Are the Honey Nut Cheerios today the same product as they were decades ago?

A: No, Honey Nut Cheerios now has no nuts listed as an ingredient.

THERE ARE NO LONGER ANY REAL NUTS IN THE INGREDIENT LISTING FOR HONEY NUT CHEERIOS: Honey Nut Cheerios have the taste of nuts with added Natural Almond Flavor. (Source for ingredients: General Mills Cheerios Web site 1/24)

Q: Did Honey Nut Cheerios cereal originally have nuts as an ingredient?

A: Yes, the product used to contain real Almond pieces . . . not anymore.

THERE ARE THREE SWEETENERS IN HONEY NUT CHEERIOS: There are three sweeteners in this #1 cereal: Sugar, Honey and Brown Sugar Syrup. Ingredients are always listed in descending order of amount, so there is the most amount of the ingredient listed first and the least amount of the ingredient listed last.

Sugar is the second ingredient in Honey Nut Cheerios.

Seen below, ORIGINAL YELLOW-BOX CHEERIOS CONTAIN ONE GRAM OF SUGAR IN ONE CUP: Original Cheerios have one Added Sweetener, Sugar. 

Honey Nut Cheerios have 12x the sugar of Plain Cheerios and three added sweeteners. (Source for ingredients: General Mills Cheerios Web site and package 1/24)

Honey Nut Cheerios have more Added Sugar than Froot Loops

(Source for Froot Loops sugar content: Kellogg’s Froot Loops Web site 1/24)

THE "CHEERIO" PART OF HONEY NUT CHEERIOS IS NOT THE SAME AS ORIGINAL CHEERIOS >> HONEY NUT CHEERIOS HAVE ADDED OIL(s). Sweeteners aside, Honey Nut Cheerios contain Canola Oil and/or Sunflower Oil which are not in Original Cheerios.

Despite the differences in their ingredient profiles, General Mills positions both cereals as part of a “happy, heart-healthy lifestyle”. (Source: General Mills Cheerios Web site 1/24)

THE CASCADIAN FARM ORGANIC BRAND IS ALSO OWNED BY GENERAL MILLS: Cascadian Farm manufactures organic versions of many of the GM products. In this case, they make an organic version of Honey Nut Cheerios called Honey Nut O’s.

Similar to Honey Nut Cheerios, Cascadian Farm Honey Nut O’s have no nuts listed as an ingredient. (Source: General Mills Cascadian Farms Web site 1/24)

Field Day Organic Honey Nut O’s Cereal has no Almonds listed as an ingredient and contains ingredients Not In Kitchen including Organic Natural Flavor and Tocopherols. (Source: Field Day Organic Web site 1/24)

Following is a look at a few other brands of Honey Nut O’s Cereals:

Once upon a time, Cheerios was all about a healthy breakfast . . .

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