Fruity Cheerios

Long ago, the word "Cheerios" was synonymous with healthy. That’s why it was just about the only breakfast cereal my mom would buy. Nowadays, moms don’t have it as easy because there are all kinds of Cheerios of questionable healthiness: Honey Nut, Frosted, Apple Cinnamon, Yogurt Burst, Chocolate, and maybe the most questionable of all, Fruity. Fruity Cheerios are obviously meant to be a Fruit Loop-like cereal, from the color scheme of the box to the flavor of the cereal. They taste very similar to Fruit Loops, the main differences being that the fruity taste and sweetness are not as pronounced. They’re tasty, but not as good as Fruit Loops. But, I’m eating a cereal that’s better for me than Fruit Loops, right? Not necessarily. I looked up the nutrition information for Fruit Loops and found that they had exactly the same amount of sugar as Fruity Cheerios. Huh? I thought Cheerios were supposed to be good for me! You mean I just finished a box of Fruity Cheerios and I could have eaten the much tastier Fruit Loops instead? Fruity Cheerios may seem like they have less sugar when you read the side of the box, but if you look carefully you’ll see that the serving size is ¾ cup. The serving size for Fruit Loops is one cup, and when you take the serving size into consideration, both cereals have 12 grams of sugar per one cup serving. There are some other minor differences in the nutritional content of the two cereals, and the question of which cereal is healthier could probably be debated. My recommendation is to go for the real thing – Fruit Loops – and don’t fool yourself by thinking that Fruity Cheerios are better for you.

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