General Mills to Make Cereals Whole Grain

[Guest guest]

I GUESS its a start for refined sugar and artificial color laden cereals

to go whole grain

 

I still won't let my family eat them ;-p

 

*Smile*

Chris (list mom)

 

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General Mills to Make Cereals Whole Grain

 

September 30, 2004 07:43 PM EDT

 

 

 

MINNEAPOLIS - The Trix Rabbit and that Lucky Charms leprechaun are going

on a whole-grain diet. General Mills announced Thursday that it will

convert all of its breakfast cereals to whole grain.

 

The nation's No. 2 cereal producer behind Kellogg Co. is the latest food

company to give its products a nutritional makeover as pressure grows

from the government and consumer groups to make children's food

healthier.

 

General Mills spokesman Tom Johnson said the whole-grain conversion will

include 29 cereals, including Trix, Golden Grahams, Lucky Charms and

Rice Chex. Other General Mills cereals, such as Wheaties, Cheerios and

Total, already were made with whole grain.

 

The new recipes and packaging will be launched in October, Johnson said.

He declined to say whether the change would affect General Mills'

manufacturing costs, but the company said it would not increase the

price retailers pay for cereal.

 

Nutritionists say eating whole grains is better than processed grains

because they contain more fiber, vitamins and minerals, and are more

filling.

 

The company said the change will add 26 million servings of whole grains

per day to the diet consumed by Americans.

 

General Mills said testing with 9,000 consumers showed the revamped

cereals taste as good or better than the earlier versions.

 

Lona Sandon, a nutritionist at the University of Texas Southwestern

Medical Center in Dallas, said the new whole-grain cereals will be a

huge improvement from their predecessors.

 

" If I had kids I would not allow them to eat (children's cereals), the

way they're made right now, " she said. " Kids need to get whole grains in

their diet just as much as adults. Right now we're looking at a

childhood obesity crisis, and this is maybe one way to address that. "

 

Americans eat $6 billion worth of cereal - 2.1 billion boxes worth -

every year, not counting sales through Wal-Mart, which doesn't share

data for marketing surveys, according to Information Resources Inc., a

marketing data firm.

 

" I think they're making a bet that health will sell, " said economics

professor Jean Kinsey, co-director of The Food Industry Center at the

University of Minnesota. " It's a marketing ploy that's very compatible

with public health. "

 

The General Mills move follows a recent recommendation by a federal

advisory panel that people should eat whole grain products rather than

refined grains to reduce risks of heart disease and other conditions.

 

A handful of companies have modified their products as interest grows in

the public health implications of some foods. Last year, Kraft Foods

Inc. began reducing the fat content in 200 products in North America and

capping portions for single-serve packaged snacks. It also quit

marketing snacks at school.

 

And fast-food chains McDonald's Corp. and Wendy's International Inc.

have revamped their children's menus to promote milk and fruit

consumption.

 

On Thursday, Kellogg said that nearly 50 varieties of its cereal

products contain whole grain and fiber. The company said it is

" committed to staying abreast of the latest scientific research,

particularly since fiber has numerous health benefits. "

 

Sandon said the sugar content in most cereals still concerns her.

 

" That might be the next direction General Mills might want to

investigate, " she said. " We still don't need as much sugar as most of us

eat in our diets. "

 

General Mills shares closed down 19 cents at $44.90.

 

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On the Net:

 

General Mills: http://www.generalmills.com

 

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Joshua Freed can be reached at jfreed(at)ap.org

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

This isn't necessarily happy news. I'm afraid that people will assume they're

doing their children (or themselves) a favor using these " foods " and be

encouraged to buy them more than ever. In actuality, I feel the amount of

refined sugars and the hydrogenated fats in these products are robbers of good

health. A lot of people will feel complacent, or worse, virtuous, about giving

these cereals to their families for breakfast. I don't mean to insult anyone by

saying so, but the fact remains that the information is available for anyone

taking the time to research what is in these cereals. It has been said that

you'd get more nutrition from eating the cardboard box than from anything inside

it.

 

I understand few people have time in the mornings to make old fashioned

breakfasts before work and school, but there are far better alternatives to the

quick " fix " (I use the term lightly) that most resort to. When I did a casual

survey last year of 23 kindergarteners, 15 of them had eaten sugar-sweetened

national brand cereal that morning before school, with no other solid foods. 9

of those had also had orange, grape, or apple juice to drink with their cereal,

which together would comprise a major sugar overload in such tiny bodies.

Believe me, it is reflected in their behavior every day. In addition to those

15, two others had eaten sugar cereal along with other solid food--one had

frozen, reconstituted, microwaved bacon, the other had a blueberry streusel

muffin with whipped cream cheese. Of the five who hadn't eaten sugared cold

cereal, 2 had been served instant hot cereal, and one of those had also been

given bananas and raisins with hers, and both had milk to drink. Next, there was

a child with food allergies who had eaten an unnamed boxed cereal from Trader

Joe's with rice milk, and also a child who had eaten a McDonald's fruit and

yogurt parfait (without the granola) on the way to school, along with just the

sausage patty from a McMuffin, saying his family was on a low-carb diet. Another

child had been given scrambled eggs with margarine or butter, toast with

margarine or butter and jelly, toast with peanut butter, microwavable link

sausage, canteloupe, orange juice, hot chocolate, and strawberry yogurt. (This

same child came with a packed lunch of pepperoni slices, cheddar cheese cubes,

Ritz crackers, Oreo cookies, Doritos, green grapes, banana pudding, and

chocolate milk. She is seriously overweight). Lastly, the remaining child

claimed not to have had any breakfast at all, but that was not verified. It is

possible he was provided with breakfast but didn't eat it, as he generally came

to school with a nice packed lunch which he usually threw away or gave away. I'm

not sure what he subsisted on other than paper and glue....

 

The above is all pretty frightening, don't you think? I didn't do much better

for my own children. When they were very young I fed them only " good " foods but

once they got to public school and saw what was out there, they wanted what

everyone else was getting. I could either make food a big, nasty issue or I

could compromise. I compromised but I'm not sure I'd do so again if I had it to

do over. My older son still maintains pretty good habits, but the younger boy

quickly developed an abhorrence of real food and would rather starve than eat

whole grains, unsweetened cereals, raw fruit other than apples, vegetables of

any kind, or meat that wasn't breaded and fried (chicken tenders, etc). Raisin

Bran and Kix cereals, instant oatmeal, protein shakes or the occasional egg were

the best of what I could convince him to eat in the mornings, and he liked pink

grapefruit as long as it had brown sugar. If it weren't for those things, he

wouldn't have eaten breakfast at all. I know, because I called his bluff enough

times to realize he wasn't bluffing. He went to school empty a few times but I

couldn't let that continue. I didn't know what else to do, other than pry open

his jaws and force feed him quinoa....

 

He's turning 17 next month and is just now starting to listen to nutrition

advice, mainly because his girlfriend is into health food. It was a turning

point in our lives when he came home from her family's house one evening and

announced with a somewhat bemused expression that he had EATEN SALAD. I didn't

even care if it was organically grown--it was green! I wrote that one in my

diary.

 

Americans definitely have to change how we think about commercially prepared

food. Maybe putting whole grains into cereals is a step in the right direction,

but I'm more afraid that it will trick people into thinking they're doing the

right thing when they could actually be doing much, much better. Still, it's

good to hear that big companies like General Mills are starting to listen a

little. They must be losing business to Trader Joe's and farmer's markets ;O)

 

jaime