I chose Special K- Fruit & Yogurt blend.
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| yummm! |
I am obsessed with cereal and always have been. I generally eat a bowl of cereal once a day, not always at breakfast either! I'm not a fan of kids cereals that are full of sugar on sugar on sugar. I love Raisin Bran, Chex, Honey Bunches of Oats... things along those lines. But when I came across Special K Fruit & Yogurt my cereal eating experience was forever changed (OK, maybe it's not that drastic, but I need you to understand how much I love this stuff!). I have no doubt that I could eat nothing but a box of it for an entire day.
When I picked my favorite cereal for this assignment, I admit I was hesitant. Do I REALLY want to know the nitty gritty about something I so often eat? I mean... it's supposed to be a healthy choice but should I risk finding out whether or not that's actually true?
Welp, here goes!
Ingredient list: Rice, whole grain wheat, sugar, whole grain rolled oats, wheat bran, contains 2% or less of vegetable oil (palm kernel, soybean and canola), dried apples, corn syrup, salt, brown sugar syrup, brown sugar (sugar, molasses), nonfat milk, soluble wheat fiber, malt flavoring, rice flour, natural and artificial flavor, polydextrose, tapioca dextrin, confectioner's glaze, whey, soy lecithin, nonfat yogurt powder (cultured nonfat milk; heat-treated after culturing), maltodextrin, honey, molasses, cinnamon, citric acid, lactic acid, red 40, blue 1, BHT for freshness, sodium sulfite to protect color.
Vitamins and Minerals: Vitamin C (ascorbic acid), reduced iron, niacinamide, vitamin B6 (pyridoxine hydrochloride), vitamin B2 (riboflavin), vitamin B1 (thiamin hydrochloride), vitamin A palmitate, folic acid, vitamin D, vitamin B12.
If you're like me, before this assignment, you probably just skimmed through that list (rice, whole grain, blah blah blah vitamins and minerals blah blah). But in taking a closer look I actually made quite a few faces while reading. Why is there salt in my cereal?! And what the heck are these "natural and artificial flavors?" Plus I'm pretty sure I have no idea what the last few ingredients are let alone an answer as to why they're in my cereal.
Lets start with things on the list that caused me confusion.
1. Malt flavoring. I know that malt is a type of beer (right?) so whats it doing in the cereal? thanks to Google I was able to find out that it is an extract that comes from barley. It is added to things for flavor. It is not gluten free.
2. Polydextrose. It's an artificial fiber. I had no idea the fiber was not all-natural, since Kellogg's claims that Special K is a "healthy" choice. Everyone knows that natural is better than articifical. I found an article from www.slate.com that states the following: "Recent FDA approvals have given manufacturers a green light to add polydextrose to a much broader range of products than previously permitted, allowing food companies to entice health-conscious consumers who normally crinkle their noses at high-fiber products due to the coarse and bitter taste of the old-fashioned roughage. These fiber additives serve dual purposes—they can serve as bulking agents to make reduced-calorie products taste better, such as the case with Breyers fat-free ice cream, and carry an added appeal to consumers by showing up as dietary fiber on food labels." I don't know about you but that seriously just blew my mind. (you can read the full article here http://www.slate.com/articles/life/food/2009/03/dietary_fibber.html)
4. Confectioners Glaze. "it's the same ingredient as shellac, the chemical sold in hardware stores that's used for sealing and varnishing wood floors." "Shellac is actually a chemical secreted by female lac bugs (Laccifer lacca)" SAY WHAT??? You're telling me I'm eating beetle juice??
Learn more: http://www.naturalnews.com/033217_confectioners_glaze_shellac.html#ixzz2OdBKH8M6
5. BHT. researching BHT was a life changing experience, no joke. It's an additive used to preserve the fat in food. It literally means Butylated Hydroxytoluene and is listed as an antioxident but is a CHEMICAL that is also found in skincare products such as lotions and soaps, jet fuel, embalming products, and certain oils. It is also a known stabilizer in pesticides and gasoline. Yep, you read that right. BHT is known to cause abdominal pain, confusion, dizziness, and nausea (that makes total sense to me now that I know what it is). It is combustible, harmful to aquatic organisms, and can possibly cause liver damage, kidney failure, and thyroid issues. Additionally, BHT is secreted through urine. You know what that means? It's potentially infecting our water systems.
A great article on BHT (and a cool find as far as "green" websites go!) can be found here: http://2ndgreenrevolution.com/2012/02/07/bht-the-secret-in-your-cereal/
OK. In trying to find out more information about the cereal I immediately went to www.specialk.com. The entire website is dedicated to The Special K Plan (a diet plan involving the company's wide variety of products). While searching for some information other than ingredients I was led to the Kellogg's website (Kellogg's is the maker of Special K products). The information I gathered about the Kellogg's company was actually surprising. In 2011, Kellogg's was named number 36 of 100 Best Global Green Brands. Kellogg's is also dedicated to reducing landfill waste accumulated by the making of their products, reducing energy use as well as water use, and reducing their emission of greenhouse gases. You can look at their sustainability report in its entirety here.
It was news to me that Kellogg's is not just available in the United States but in all of North America, Latin America, and Europe. But where exactly do these products come from? I know, obviously, that the ingredients for my Special K come from a farm, then go to a processing plant, then onto a truck that takes it to the store where I then purchase the cereal and take it home. Kellogg's actually states that their company is dedicated to working with "local" rice farmers in Louisiana. In 2012 they actually created a Rice Master Grower Program, which was established with the help of the Louisiana State university Ag center, to help assure product quality while boosting the economy for the local growers. Cool, right? I had trouble finding information about the source of supply in other countries though. 
OK. So now I have a summary of ingredients and a general idea of place of origin. Do I agree with Kellogg's that their Special K cereal is "healthy?" Well... I wouldn't necessarily say that it's healthy... just healthier than other breakfast cereals. Did you know that Kellogg's also makes Cheez-Its, Keebler, and Famous Amos products? Seems funny to me that a company that markets themselves based on their achievements in providing a healthier product, also makes such unhealthy things, too. Based on the sole ingredient BHT I can say that I probably won't be eating this cereal any longer. Notice I said probably, haha. Knowing that BHT is in A LOT of things nowadays is frightening. Although I already knew everything has preservatives these days, especially my precious cereal, I didn't know exactly what those preservatives and chemicals were... it was nice when I could eat my cereal in complete ignorant bliss. ::sigh::
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