Comments on: Cascadian Purely O’s: betrayal or business as usual?

By: Frustration in the Cereal Aisle « Love Knowledge Zeal & Fortitude

Frustration in the Cereal Aisle « Love Knowledge Zeal & Fortitude — Tue, 25 May 2010 06:42:20 +0000

[...] in January on Marion Nestle’s Food Politics blog I learned that Cascadian Farms had changed the recipe on their Organic Purely O’s to [...]

By: Dave

Dave — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 11:38:49 +0000

I think we’re experiencing the latest frontier in the “laundering” of health food. There was a time that the “organic” label meant something relatively strong about the circumstances under which the product was produced (typically small farms, genuine concern that the ingredients be natural and wholesome), and organic products were often the healthiest ones on the shelves. The most salient thing about the new Purely-O’s formula is not that it substantially more sugary; the biggest difference is that it tastes like sugary styrofoam. What was once a delicious, obviously natural product now looks and tastes like it was produced in mass scale using the cheapest ingredients possible. But supposedly it is “organic” and therefore healthy?

Now that big companies are involved, this is all about gaming the standards (which are all enforced by third party auditors — many of whom are on probation for failing to do their jobs properly) so that they can stamp “organic” on the same-old-same-old. The real organic movement was nice while it lasted, but don’t count on that word having any meaning from now on.

By: Kathy Lee

Kathy Lee — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 16:20:07 +0000

Annie, Marion wrote that fiber is the point of “breakfast cereal” (not of breakfast itself). It is very hard to get the recommended 35 grams of fiber per day unless you eat beans or high-fiber cereal. I am not a big cereal eater, so for me, the fiber is the reason I would eat cereal. I like Ezekiel 4:9, which is an organic, sprouted whole grain cereal with 0 sugar and 6g fiber. I like to add blueberries, walnuts or a banana. On non-cereal days, I like high fiber, organic sprouted whole grain toast with avocado, green smoothies, green juice, or home-made fruit smoothies with Berry Radical.

Regarding changing formulas once a product is purchased by another brand: It would be nice to be able to trust recognised brands, but the bottom line for major corporations is pure profit, so being an avid label reader is our only chance at protecting ourselves.

By: Christy

Christy — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 19:41:46 +0000

A wonderful roundup of the facts. In my experience (at least in traditional grocery stores), cereal companies do tell you when they’ve changed a product . . . just not directly. After all, it’s a great reason to put “improved!” or “Even Better!” on the box.

By: Cereal for Breakfast « How to Eat a Wolf

Cereal for Breakfast « How to Eat a Wolf — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 12:04:13 +0000

[...] a reasonable choice since it did not make the Cereal Shame List. Then I read Marion Nestle’s post about Purely O’s. Purely O’s are not a great breakfast choice, and apparently neither are Cheerios. How maddening! [...]

By: Tom Molessa

Tom Molessa — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 04:40:29 +0000

Barbara’s O’s cereal has 0 grams of Sugar….if everyone switches to it then maybe General Mills will finally get the idea….or maybe they won’t care anyway…

By: wendy

wendy — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 15:17:06 +0000

ugh. it seems as if the entire food industry is out to get us, but what they are really after is the Almighty Dollar, we are just collateral damage. just give me some fresh fruit and some cashews. oh wait, did mother earth change the formula of bananas? i hope not…

By: Peanut

Peanut — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 04:06:32 +0000

Whole Foods has a terrific alternative to oatmeal, available in its bulk bins: organic 7-grain cereal. It contains cracked corn, cracked rye, cracked wheat, cracked barley, oats, flax seed, and millet. I add dried cranberries, raisins, and walnuts (I just found out that walnuts and flax seeds are good sources of omega-3′s), and stir in almond milk at the end. I based this on a dish I had at NYC’s Le Pain Quotidien, their harvest porridge. Delicious!

By: Anthro

Anthro — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 16:50:49 +0000

I definitely agree with both Annie and Laura about the pervasive idea that boxed cereal is the only thing to eat for breakfast. I have posted regularly about alternatives such as cooked cereal w/ fruit, eggs, pancakes (or leftover dinner) and tried to include easy and quick preparation tips. I’m happy to hear there is some support for this idea, but I fear that it mostly falls on deaf and frazzled ears. Young people are so heavily influenced by advertising that has drummed at them all of their lives–unless they’ve had some sort of epiphany about food and nutrition, they will be guided by this “training”. Sadly, this is true even at “health food” stores where I see young parents buying organic “coco puffs” so that their kids can be “like the others” I guess. I agree that fiber should not be the sole “point” of breakfast! WW (not multi-grain) toast or pancakes and sandwich in the lunch bag along with fruit and veggies will do that–breakfast should be well-balanced for a good start to the day.

Related to this is an interesting article in the NY Times today about snacking–which has become an incessant and obligatory thing for parents and children alike.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/20/dining/20gusti.html?8dpc

By: PageRank Checker

PageRank Checker — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 15:23:43 +0000

nice one !!

good information !!!