30 ms·
Breakfast cereal is in long-term decline
- kwertyoowiyop 3y agoIt’s a pretty expensive meal too, especially with all the boxes being just half filled. :-(
- quickthrower2 3y agoAnd oats are very cheap
- LeoPanthera 3y ago"Sold by weight, not volume."
- sokoloff 3y agoAnd often containing less weight at the same cost via shrinkflation. https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2021/07/23/business/shrinkflation-prices-grocery-stores/index.html https://amp.cnn.com/cnn/2021/07/23/business/shrinkflation-pr...
- refurb 3y agoI swear most of the comments on HN become this weird “how can I respond to this statement and connect the conversation to something negative even if it’s completely off topic”.
- mattgreenrocks 3y agoSkepticism cosplays as wisdom on the internet.
- sokoloff 3y agoIt hardly seemed off-topic, given the misinterpretation of the topic introduced here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37540818 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37540818
- cwillu 3y agoI know this isn't what you're saying, but I'm amused at the notion of a hypothetical person thinking that containers could leave the factory filled to 120% of volume so that they're at 100% of volume after settling, if only manufacturers would stop being greedy or something.
- mysterypie 3y agoIs it really that expensive or impractical to settle the contents of cereal boxes (and potato chip bags) on the assembly line so they aren’t 20-40% air? I assumed that the fill level was something that manufactures co-evolved to — based on what their major competitors are doing and what they can get away with.
- cwillu 3y agoYes, it requires sustained mechanical agitation for a period of time that you can't really accelerate without severely damaging the product. Add to that that you really can't start settling the product until _after_ its in the container. Maybe you oversize the bag, leave it open while settling (keep in mind that the atmosphere in the container is frequently not room air), before finally sealing and trimming off the excess? Or you could skip all that and just ship the same amount of product, using the same amount of packaging, and save the energy input and cycle time needed to pre-settle the product.
- chongli 3y agoPotato chip bags are deliberately inflated with nitrogen. This preserves them (oxygen causes chips to go stale) and it protects them in shipping. The air pressure acts as a shock absorber. If they tightly packed these bags with product then a lot of it would be crushed into tiny crumbs. It costs them money to ship a bunch of air to the stores. They can’t fit nearly as much product on a truck this way. They do it because it improves product quality, not because they’re trying to rip people off.
- lacrimacida 3y agoThere’s one thing to not have chips bags tightly packed and another to have them a tiny amount of chips and the rest nitrogen filler. I think manufacturers got a bit too greedy at this point…
- bell-cot 3y ago"half filled" is an extremely generous description, when the contents of the breakfast cereal box are carefully engineered to be ~95% air by volume, no matter how well-settled. (Yes, I know about Grape-Nuts, and other cereals with far higher densities.)
- bell-cot 3y agoCorrection, with ~real numbers: - A few web sites say American (breakfast) cereal boxes are roughly 12" x 8" x 2" - so 192 cu. in., or ~3,150 cu. cm. - Similarly, the product weight for a standard box of Cap'n Crunch(tm) cereal seems to be ~12oz. - so ~340g. (Frosted Flakes(tm), Cheerios(tm), and many others look pretty close to this.) Divide those figures, and we get ~0.11g/cu. cm. The actual density of carbohydrates is ~1.5g/cu. cm. So, with a generous allowance for settling, I should have said "engineered to be ~92% air by volume". More interesting: A couple searches say that wheat, from a farmer's PoV, is currently selling for ~$5.75 per bushel. And the standard wheat bushel weighs 60 pounds. So an "all-grain" breakfast cereal should yield ~80 12-oz. boxes from that $5.75 bushel of wheat...or about 7.2 cents per box. Far, far better to be a big corporate middle-man than an American farmer or consumer, eh?
- meristohm 3y agoThere are so many great first-meal options! I still like oatmeal, but sometimes it's sprouted grains and legumes with whatever veg from the local farm that no one else is going to eat, and beets. I make most of the family meals and because I'm recovering from GERD also I make my own different lower-impact meals (without garlic, onions, tomatoes, citrus, coffee, chocolate, or alcohol), usually in the microwave on lower power for longer (cubed beets cook well this way: 8-10min at 30% power in a 1100W microwave), otherwise too much water leaves as steam. I'll add nutritional yeast and homemade kimchi for taste, or the yeast and some soy sauce in the evening (the last batch of kimchi has some garlic in it, and I'll risk eating small amounts earlier in the day). Hydration: I've noticed that I'm not so thirsty anymore, eating meals with so much vegetable matter, possibly because there's a lot of water in amongst the fiber and it gets freed up during digestion?
- thaumasiotes 3y agoOatmeal isn't exactly an alternative to cereal.
- meristohm 3y agoMy point was I've eaten cereal most of my life, in the form of rolled oats or steel-cut oats (and now increasingly using oat groats), not the sweetened stuff that comes in little packets, and recently been happy to branch out, inspired in part by memories of breakfast in Japan.
- colanderman 3y agoMaybe it's a regional thing, but "breakfast cereal" is exclusive of "oatmeal" where I'm from (despite oats being a cereal grain). Breakfast cereal is crunchy and served cold, neither of which applies to oatmeal (even overnight oats are cold but not crunchy).
- morsch 3y agoWhy wouldn't you prepare and serve oatmeal cold?
- beauzero 3y agoToo much sugar these days. Not my first go to breakfast food.
- ZanyProgrammer 3y agoThe solution is to eat dull cereal.
- vidanay 3y agoMy cereal of choice is Grape Nuts with sliced banana. Is that dull enough?
- warent 3y agoGrape nuts are highly underrated!
- TylerE 3y agoThe banana is adding so much sugar that isn’t really that healthy. Fruit on cereal is sorta like loading up a salad with dressing, croutons and bacon bits. Bananas in particular are pretty high in sugar, and other than potassium their nutrient density is nothing special.
- School-Cotton 3y agoOne banana with breakfast is not going to kill you.
- ZanyProgrammer 3y agoIf you’re worried that bananas have too much sugar for you personally you have bigger fish to fry than cereal.
- prng2021 3y agoJesus, please stop spreading this kind of nonsense. It’s totally fine for people to eat a banana 7 days a week, 365 days a year as part of their breakfast. Also, their nutrient density is perfectly fine. It’s high in fiber, potassium, vitamin C, and vitamin B6.
- KingLancelot 3y ago[dead]
- neonate 3y agohttps://archive.ph/N9p6I https://archive.ph/N9p6I
- jakebasile 3y agoLots of cereal is basically candy, which is why it's so darn delicious. I weaned myself off of it and now mostly skip breakfast, get a McMuffin if I want to be fancy, or grab a protein bar if I'm desperate. I will treat myself to a bowl of Lucky Charms every once in a while, though.
- constantly 3y agoIf a McMuffin is your go to instead of cereal aren’t you just trading sugar for fat, cholesterol, and sodium? Doesn’t seem like a great replacement if health is important.
- voz_ 3y agoFat isn’t bad for you, at all. Sugar very much so.
- constantly 3y agoFat isn’t bad for you aside from heart disease and being a major risk factor in a myriad of other health conditions you mean?
- mdon 3y agoAre you a time traveler from the 90s?
- UncleSlacky 3y agoMore like the 70s, like Woody Allen in "The Sleeper": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=485Em2JF34M https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=485Em2JF34M
- 876978095789789 3y ago> Are you a time traveler from the 90s? What was the obesity rate in 1993 vs. 2023?
- 3y ago
- bbarn 3y agoIt's also an utterly saturated market. There seems to be more competition around who can make the loudest box than even caring about what's inside of it.
- SOLAR_FIELDS 3y agoWell, it doesn’t really matter what’s inside of it, does it? In the end it’s all ground up wheat or ground up corn with a shit ton of sugar and a vitamin thrown in there, so really that is the only way these companies can compete. In the end they’re all selling the same product, so the box is really the only differentiator
- Fire-Dragon-DoL 3y agoFor some really weird reason, cheerios gives me heartburn
- throwaway154 3y agoHN seem to be a fan of oats, as am I.
- Simulacra 3y agoI used to love cereal, but the sugar content is too high, especially when it resorts to using high fructose corn syrup. I've tried to find other cereals that don't have as much or no sugar, but… It just feels overly manufactured and engineered. Not the cereal I grew up with.
- baq 3y agoOatmeal with fruit is always an option.
- MattGaiser 3y agoFood is much cheaper so it’s cost advantage is not important to many people.
- chunk_waffle 3y agoFor me, breakfast is obsolete. I only eat between noon and 8PM, so I only eat lunch and dinner. I do eat rolled oats on occasion though, about once a week when I don't have time to prepare my usual salad for lunch, I often stir in about a tbsp of cashew or almond butter.
- cortesoft 3y ago[flagged]
- mcny 3y agoSorry if I'm missing something here. Maybe it is just too obvious and doesn't need to be stated? Maybe. I don't know but I don't see how we can avoid the elephant in the room when we talk about cereals. I'm talking about the total fertility rate and how people like me refuse to have any children because society refuses to pay us to have children. I think millennials and younger people should continue to hold out and have fewer (preferably zero) children until we get a more favorable deal from society. Right now individual parents pay way too much of the cost to raise children. I think if we can lower TFR to about one or less for a decade or two, we can get a much better deal. Back to the topic, I think it is worth asking if cereal consumption is down simply because we have fewer children eating cereal than before. Is that not possible? Do adults eat cereal every morning?
- next_xibalba 3y agoAh, yes. Just like the thousands of generations of humanity who begat us, we should strike until our elders pay us to reproduce. Else, who is this "society" of which you write? Surely it's not those younger than us. So it must be us and our elders. And since we aren't going to pay ourselves to reproduce, I guess the bill then slides to our elders. Perhaps this is the Great Filter–conscious species become so entitled, effete, and apathetic that they refuse to reproduce until they either fall back into the dark ages or go extinct.
- ImPostingOnHN 3y agoI mean, yeah, the previous generation had it easier, and society provided them with a reality in which they could buy a home for a family on a single income, for example Now, the same people are buying up multiple properties that the next generation would otherwise live in, so they can rent-seek instead of earning the money improving society. Indeed, the previous generation claiming the current generation is "entitled" is a story as old and boring as time, but the ones now obliviously claiming it without realizing they had it better, pretending they were "roughing it" with their 1-income mortgages, are truly the most entitled of all.
- pupppet 3y agoIt’s not paying if they stole it from you.
- xnx 3y agoOne of many (70) things millennials have been blamed for killing: https://mashable.com/article/things-millennials-have-killed https://mashable.com/article/things-millennials-have-killed
- SOLAR_FIELDS 3y agoGood. If my generation is responsible for ending the disgusting practice of pumping kids full of subsidized sugar and grain and trying to call it healthy I am proud of being part of the movement to end feeding kids this shit
- datavirtue 3y agoBut think of the 401ks...
- rsynnott 3y agoI suspect fabric softener on that list is, like breakfast cereal, a victim of truth in advertising rules; you’re just not allowed lie about its efficacy like you use to be. Diamonds, another product which makes no sense outside the context of marketing are presumably some other marketing failure, possibly just failure of the industry to address bad press.
- fortran77 3y agoI was surprised that "Doorbells" weren't on that list. Nobody under 60 rings my doorbell. I get a text that says "here"
- ilrwbwrkhv 3y agoOh no. Who will stop my chronic masturbation now?
- rsynnott 3y agoI think people _may_ have missed the joke here (it was dead) but cornflakes started off as a ‘health food’ marketed to do, well, just that (along with various other unlikely things). Lying about health effects has been an industry mainstay ever since.
- tetrep 3y agoGraham crackers were supposed to do the same! The cultural impact of puritanical thinking in the US is, IMO, really understated. It's amazing how many stupid things are anchored in Christian masochism. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_cracker https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_cracker
- suckitsam 3y agoGiven this <gestures broadly>, I'm surprised we haven't seen any "performance enhancing"/"Men's Health" cereals.
- bregma 3y agoWheaties?
- knicholes 3y ago[dead]
- pbj1968 3y agoWho the hell consumes milk anymore?
- bell-cot 3y agoI'm not sure...but looking at the shelves of local grocery stores, there are plenty of 'em.
- kernelrain 3y agoWhat do you mean?
- sgt 3y agoMilk is extremely popular. I have it with my cereal in the morning. Also drink a glass of cold milk now and then, it gives you a filling sensation. My two year old has recently started drinking lots of it from a glass that he pours himself.
- Animats 3y ago"This will leave Kellogg’s top management to focus on the more attractive snacking segment, with brands such as Pringles and Cheez-It, at a company renamed Kellanova." So the profitable sector is feeding fat people?
- SOLAR_FIELDS 3y agoDisgusting but probably. Cereal is at an interesting crossroads now. For a long time they were able to dupe the American populace into thinking that processed grains pumped full of sugar were “healthy” as long as they tossed a b complex tab in there. Now the American populace has finally wised up and I cannot say I feel sorry for the cereal big wigs
- rsynnott 3y agoBoth were this; the idea that breakfast cereal is good for you was largely a marketing creation, and it’s likely that the fact that it has become more difficult to lie about that to people in ads is likely at least partially responsible for the decline.
- nxobject 3y agoOne company thrives on high sodium intake, the other on high sugar intake... (Well, that isn't strictly true: Pop-Tarts and Nutri-Grain bars are going to Kellanova.)
- poorbutdebtfree 3y agoThe pharmaceutical companies, primary care medicine, and therapists would go bankrupt without a steady supply of fat people.
- jdougan 3y agoMy family has switched to a "cereal" that is made mostly of milk products. I wonder if those products are being counted.
- malablaster 3y agoI’m still holding strong with my occasional cereal concoction of half Alpen, half Fiber One with skim milk and plain yogurt.
- clnq 3y agoIt's just objectively not good food with a glycaemic index approaching soda, very short satiety, and limited nutrition value. It's a mix of things we blame for the obesity epidemic, all in one convenient meal. The "breakfast of champions" slogan, given how popular it became, sounds like it would make for an interesting case study where people agreed to marketing, even if their individual experiences must have been that the food isn't really as filling as other options. Maybe it's a breakfast of sports champions who eat it as pre-workout, but surely it's not a breakfast that makes champions.
- SOLAR_FIELDS 3y agoI’m a lazy guy that is part of one of those elite gyms (kind of by accident, but it is what it is). As a result I get to see what actual elite athletes eat by virtue of being around that and I can assure you that these elite sports champions are not eating any form of cereal at all as part of their daily regimen.
- thaumasiotes 3y agoThey all eat at the gym?
- ffhhttt 3y agoPresumably people occasionally still talk to each other
- plugin-baby 3y ago> I get to see...
- kenjackson 3y agoElite athletes often eat pretty poorly. But they can get away with it because they work so hard. I know a lot of D1 football players not only eat cereal for breakfast but also as a late night snack.
- 3y ago
- sacnoradhq 3y agoWell, good. Wheaties was intentionally marketed refined flour and sugar to children and adopted sales tactics of big tobacco such as cartoon characters/mascots. Thus began the march towards ultra-processed foods and obesity.
- globular-toast 3y agoKellogg's is a junk food company. They're just adapting their marketing, that's all.
- pleb_nz 3y agoBreakfast is the perfect meal for me to skip when fasting.
- CalRobert 3y agoMy daughter had her first sleepover and it was with a family that originated in India. They had spaghetti for breakfast. The idea that only certain foods are acceptable for breakfast is silly, and considering the bizarre history of cereal it's nice to see cereal in decline. Edit: Regarding questioning tradition and rules- I remember reading a book called "Indians of the Oaks" and feeling pretty validated that the traditional diet of the aboriginal people of the San Diego region only had 2 meals a day, and they managed just fine. https://www.amazon.com/Indians-oaks-Mellicent-Humason-Lee/dp/0937808504 https://www.amazon.com/Indians-oaks-Mellicent-Humason-Lee/dp...
- jiggawatts 3y agoWhen I was growing up, breakfast was very often just re-heated leftovers from a previous dinner. A full plate of meat & veg with some sort of gravy or sauce was the norm, not the exception.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- rtpg 3y agoAs a person who has to prep breakfast, spaghetti is probably the easiest non-breakfast-typical meal to prep and that’s like 5 times more work to prep than toast + eggs + yogurt + bananas. Though I did experience “breakfast is for dinners leftovers” in one family and that seems to work well when planned for
- leipert 3y agoSpaghettis being more work than all of that? Just takes one pot and a few minutes, some pesto and done. Cleaning up after making eggs is more work than the entire spaghetti dish.
- xur17 3y agoI mix eggs in a mug, and lightly rinse it out before shoving it straight in the dishwasher. The pan takes 20 seconds to clean in the sink.
- rsynnott 3y agoI always assumed this was mostly down to truth-in-advertising rules; I remember when I was a kid in the late 80s/early 90s breakfast cereal ads making all sorts of extravagant, and untrue, health claims which would not be tolerated today. This is referenced in the article; where permitted, making misleading health claims is still an industry mainstay. Arguably, without advertising which makes you believe, incorrectly, that it is good for you, breakfast cereal _makes no sense_; it’s not surprising that late millennials and Gen Z, who were largely not exposed to this advertising, have foresaken it. For an interesting small-scale model see Ribena in the UK (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ribena); https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ribena); allegedly healthy high-sugar drink, used to be _everywhere_, until they stopped being able to use misleading ads to sell it.
- thriftwy 3y agoSugarless Kellogs with whole milk are super healthy and also very tasty. Unfortunatelt people end up eating junk such as frosty flakes with some milk substitute.
- eastbound 3y agoSugarless Kelloggs don’t exist. Bare raw Corn Flakes are 8.4g of sugar per 100g. (Still better than “nature yoghurt” with 11g per 100g, knowing that a yoghurt is 125g).
- fatfingerd 3y agoThe problem here is Kelloggs is a brand from the era in which western nutritional diseases exploded and it's products reflect that. Corn flakes without added sugar are made by others and are like 3% carbs.
- ilyt 3y ago> Corn flakes without added sugar are made by others and are like 3% carbs. No. They might be 3% sugars, but near entirety of corn flake is carbohydrates
- thdespou 3y agoBest breakfast is Full-English IMO followed by leftover pizza.
- sheetrock 3y ago[dead]
- 0dayz 3y agoIf you like cereal but don't want to eat unhealthy stuff, I can recommend granola (I like things crunchy so i eat it with non-sweet yoghurt). It's super simple to make, or look out for müsli.
- ducharmdev 3y agoThis or bran cereal are both good options in my experience. Just make sure to watch for how much sugar is in it; some brands will sneak in sugar even in granola.
- avgcorrection 3y agoI never really had cereal for breakfast or any other meal (or does puffed rice count? I used that as a dinner dessert) and cereal with milk sounds pretty bad as a breakfast. I'm not lactose-intolerant but milk feels pretty “heavy” to digest. I don't want that in my stomach when I'm running out the door.
- matwood 3y agoAnother breakfast cereal for dessert person here. I haven't eaten breakfast for years because it's the meal I skip for intermittent fasting. But, when I want a dessert after dinner it's often one of the 'healthy' cereals with milk.
- ilyt 3y agoSlow to digest is good! Unless you need to get instantly into hard physical work in the morning it's better to have slow trickle of energy, at least for me, keeps me sated for longer. As for cereals, I eat them with cocoa instead of milk, just add a spoon... far tastier.
- avgcorrection 3y agoI didn't mean just slow to digest like slow carbs. I meant heavy-feeling.
- Racing0461 3y agogood. candy for breakfast isn't usually the best way to start the day.
- unsupp0rted 3y ago"Part of a complete breakfast"... yes, the 8 teaspoons worth of sugar part.
- greatgib 3y agoI used to like having cereals for the breakfast, but now, everytime I plan to buy some in the supermarket, I'm cooled down because of how unhealthy they are. In France, there is something called the "nutriscore". It is a score between A and F that has to be prominently displayed on the packaging of products. It indicates how this product compares with others in the same kind of category on a healthy related scale. Industrial breakfast cereals are very bad. Easily D or E.
- baby 3y agoMy friends back in France are all using apps (I think apps like yuka) to check these scores. It’s interesting because I feel like there’s a similar wave in the US (with the recent netflix Poisoned show)
- NiloCK 3y agoBreakfast cereal is generally pure garbage, so I'm happy enough about this score, but a globally applied linear "goodness" scale on foods is too simple to be accurate. Food is good for you, or not, in context of the rest of your diet and, maybe to a lesser extent, your lifestyle/values/goals.
- namdnay 3y agoThe ratings are per category of food. So if you want sliced bread, you can choose the healthiest one (based on lower sugar level etc) It’s not a global thing that tries to tell you which foods you should be eating
- Broken_Hippo 3y agoThis isn't telling you what to eat, but it is giving you a tool that you can use to decide if you want to eat it. You know, while you take into consideration your own overall diet and personal taste. It makes make doing this stuff easier, at least to some folks. You don't have to use a tool available to you if you don't like it.
- WinstonSmith84 3y agoOn the other hand, bread + jam or croissants, which is typically what French are eating for breakfast, is not necessarily better. As bought from Bakeries, those don't have a nutri-score either.
- DonHopkins 3y agoEating Cap'n Crunch (From Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson): https://akkartik.name/post/capn-crunch https://akkartik.name/post/capn-crunch
- propter_hoc 3y agoMan, I am a Stephenson fan but that is some purple prose!
- DonHopkins 3y agoI'm also a Hunter S Thompson fan: In the dim glow of the morning light, Randy's kitchen morphed into a dangerous playground of illicit indulgence. His hands, trembling with equal parts anticipation and fear, clutched the red box – Captain Crunch, a ticket to another dimension, a realm of mania and delirium where each gold nugget was laced with that potent sugar, a crystalline substance so powerful, it could send a man hurtling through the universe, teetering on the edge of madness. The legend of its potency was whispered in dark alleys, tales of brave souls venturing too deep, taken by its spell, their sanity a small price for that euphoric trip. And Randy? Well, he was all in, craving the rush, the thrill, the unpredictability of it all. He set the stage with a meticulousness that only those who've danced with the devil can understand. The milk – not just any milk, but UHT, cold, almost frozen, a liquid gateway that would potentiate the drug's effects, making the experience a maelstrom of sensation. As the milk splashed onto those gold nuggets, the chemical reaction was immediate and fierce. The world around began to dissolve, his senses heightened, colors and sounds blending into a psychedelic tapestry. He was on the ride, and there was no stopping now. Every bite, a calculated risk, every crunch, a siren's call to the abyss. But, as with all great highs, the threat of the crash loomed, the sugar's sharp edges threatening to tear him apart from the inside. The dance had begun, and Randy, a willing participant, swayed to its seductive rhythm, chasing the dragon that was Captain Crunch.
- andrewstuart 3y agoThe cereal makers should move into lunch and dinner.
- suckitsam 3y agoLucky Charms, but with those little dried shrimp from Ramen cups.
- euroderf 3y agoSorry but it's been all downhill since the debut of Mr T cereal.
- suckitsam 3y agoDid the Millennials do this, or has Gen Z started on their killing spree?
- throw__away7391 3y agoI do not understand "breakfast" at all. When I wake up usually the last thing I want to do is start eating, but if I were hungry I'd want something salty and savory and high in protein, steak or a roast, fish, pork ribs, something like this. The amount of sugar in basically all breakfast foods is just insane, then people actually pour even more sugar on top. I don't understand how people can eat this type of food to begin with, but especially first thing in the morning.
- JCharante 3y agoInteresting. The urge to eat is what gets me out of bed, and carbs is what I crave in the morning rather than proteins.
- artursapek 3y agoHe must work out more than you
- Eddy_Viscosity2 3y agoHunger also gets me out of bed, but then I crave proteins not carbs. Lots of varieties in us humans.
- confoundcofound 3y agoCould never understand people who order a stack of pancakes / waffles first thing in the morning. You couldn’t find a more malnourishing meal. Hell, have a burger and fries instead.
- Eddy_Viscosity2 3y agoIf I ate a stack of pancakes, I'd need to go back to bed (regardless of what time of day I ate them).
- knicholes 3y agoSame. And it wouldn't be sleep. It would be some restless, bizarre sugar coma where I can't get out of bed and must continue sleeping, even though my glucometer assures me that everything is fine.
- dredmorbius 3y agoPaywall-free at MSN: <https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/it-s-the-breakfast-of-champions-no-more-cereal-is-in-long-term-decline/ar-AA1gL9cQ https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/it-s-the-breakfast...>
- lucas_membrane 3y agoThe plausibly healthful cold cereals in supermarkets I shop now are down to shredded wheat, the original Cheerios, and FiberOne (expensive). The protein thing is a sideshow; the requirement for protein is only 70 grams/day, so most Americans are way over-proteined, and the milk (non-fat, of course) on your cereal is going to give a decent amount. Put fresh berries on the cereal as often as possible, other fresh fruit in moderation otherwise.
- blopp99 3y agoI cannot deal with the sugar rush.
- dan-dan 3y agoGood.
- patrickscoleman 3y agoSwitched to yogurt + granola + fresh berries and haven't looked back.
- causality0 3y agoBreakfast cereal involves a lot of milk. What fraction of the decline can be assigned to the increasing percentage of people with lactose intolerance?
- kgbcia 3y agoI'm heading towards soup for breakfast. Sugar crash in the morning from cereal is the main reason
- roxil 3y agoOatmeal + milk warmed in the microwave for a minute, then add fresh or dried fruit. That's the only cereal I will eat. Everything else is tastes like cardboard or candy for kids.
- heresie-dabord 3y agoFrom an article that is more accessible [1]: "even though cereal sales have been dipping consistently since the early 2000s, we're still looking at a $10 billion a year industry." "millennials are more concerned than other groups with getting sufficient protein and fiber in the morning, and they aren't likely to see cereal satisfying that need. Millennials are also the most likely age group to say that cereal just gives them a sugar rush in place of actual energy." "As everyone who knows their cereal history can tell you, the Baby Boomers were actually the ones who first got hooked on sugary cereal as kids. The industry found a huge boon when the Greatest Generation decided to market to them using cartoon tigers and cereals that were 50 percent sugar by weight—like Sugar Smacks. So instead of blaming the generation that lost its sweet tooth, maybe the onus belongs on the people who first thought that marshmallows for breakfast was a good idea." [1] https://www.gq.com/story/the-real-reason-millennials-arent-eating-cereal-for-breakfast https://www.gq.com/story/the-real-reason-millennials-arent-e...
- mrabcx 3y agoJust skip breakfast and do intermittent fasting.
- robg 3y agoTrash food deserves to be in the trash heap of history. That said, it’s great humanity learned to produce more food than we need then ways to process and store it for years later. Hopefully we’l never need that knowledge again.
- redder23 3y agoIt's really sad if its really "on the go" stuff that causes this. Do people really do not have time to pour some milk or milk alternative on some cereal anymore. Like WTF?
- conradludgate 3y agoA lot of the comments here seem to he America centric. In the UK there's plenty of option for low sugar nutritious cereals. Even children's cereals by law must not contain too much sugar and must contain a certain level or nutrients. Some of my favourite cereals are shredded wheat, cheerios, rice krispies. All very simple cereals. If you're feeling fancy you can have a porridge with jam or a granola with no fruits. The only thing to say is the milk. I know a lot of people develop lactose interances as an adult so it might be troublesome to keep having such a high lactose intake. I think some milk alternatives are much nicer nowadays and add some of their own sweetness to cereal if you like that. I personally have no issues with my low fat dairy milk every morning
- joegahona 3y agoI love Shredded Wheat. I have mine with a almond milk and a tiny bit of peanut butter or even shards of dark chocolate. It's a delicious and healthy snack after dinner that satisfies a craving for dessert.
- mbostleman 3y agoThere’s plenty of options in America too - lots of low and no sugar brands. The comments do seem indicate otherwise. Maybe by “Breakfast cereal” people assume only Frosted Flakes and Fruit Loops and only from mainstream outlets like Kroger and Albertsons.
- hedora 3y agoCheerios contain round up, to the point where it should be listed as an ingredient. They apply it as a “drying agent” at harvest, then harvest before it can be washed off: https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news/should-i-throw-out-my-cheerios-and-other-questions-about-roundup-childrens-food https://www.ewg.org/news-insights/news/should-i-throw-out-my... The practice used to be effectively illegal because it contaminates the harvested crop, but lobbyists got the government to increase legal limit of glyphosate in food by 300x to enable the practice. It’s a carcinogen according to the WHO and California. Rice Krispies are low fiber, high sugar and high salt: https://smartlabel.kelloggs.com/Product/Index/00038000200038 https://smartlabel.kelloggs.com/Product/Index/00038000200038 Shredded wheat is fine, except it’s legal or use glyphosate on wheat as a drying agent at harvest. All the organic cheerios I’v tried are terrible (any suggestions, internet?) I’ve had decent luck with pretty much every other type of organic cereal I have tried, however. I filter on low salt, low sugar and high fiber. The last time I checked, spraying roundup directly on organic crops wasn’t allowed.
- 63 3y agoI used to eat shredded wheat with extra bran every day just to maintain a high fiber intake. Then the price of milk got too high to justify it so now I eat instant oatmeal made with water. Gets the job done well enough.
- j7ake 3y agoIn USA is it possible to just get the real version of breakfast cereal: ie muesli?
- bell-cot 3y agoYes...but if "real muesli" means "not loaded with sugar", then you may need to shop at a specialty bulk food store or health food store. If plain oatmeal qualifies, I think larger grocery stores still carry that.
- motohagiography 3y agoIt seems like an opportunity to reinvent the form of "cold something to hydrate." Meusli's are still very high sugar (Alpen being the main example) and cereal in general is absolute garbage food. There are some interesting attempts by a company called Holy Crap Cereals (holycrap.com), and they use ingredients like chia seeds (which expand in liquid) in their "skinny bitch," cereals. The branding attracted attention anyway. One of the ingredients in higher end muesli is whey, which is as pure a protein source as one can get.
- dredmorbius 3y agoYes, though it's often considered a premium product. Given the exorbitant price per gram of "standard" prepared breakfast cereals, that might not be too much higher though. Trader Joe's Muesli is quite good and reasonably priced. Ingredients are whole grain oats, sunflower seeds, raisins (raisins, sunflower oil), rice crisp (brown rice, caramelized pear juice concentrate, sunflower oil), pumpkin seeds, coconut, dried apples and sliced almonds. <https://www.traderjoesgroceryreviews.com/trader-joes-muesli-with-whole-grain-oats/ https://www.traderjoesgroceryreviews.com/trader-joes-muesli-...> <https://traderjoesrants.com/2021/09/19/trader-joes-muesli-cereal/ https://traderjoesrants.com/2021/09/19/trader-joes-muesli-ce...> It's $4/lb or about $0.25/oz, as compared with $0.30/oz for Kellogg's Corn Flakes ($5.29 @ 18 oz.). Many stores will have a selection of "healthy" or whole-grain cereals, often smaller labels. Prices can vary considerably, especially at premium markets (e.g., Whole Foods or local specialty markets). Even general-product markets often carry these, though there are many granola-flavoured candies out there as well with sugar as one of the top ingredients, often 2nd place on the list. The other option is to buy a mix of whole grains, nuts, fruit, etc., and mix your own.
- consoomer 3y agoI think it's a good thing it's in decline. Cereal for the most part is terrible for your health and wallet. There are far better alternatives for breakfast. Maybe people have started to realize that.
- toomuchtodo 3y agoIndeed, its popularity was an artifact of mid 20th century ag industry marketing and influence over the USDA (food pyramid and school lunch guidelines), as well as ag industry subsides. Poor health outcomes are a direct result of these subsides. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7690710/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7690710/
- wslh 3y agoPlease ELI5 what is better for breakfast that is not very opinionated. I find scrambled eggs good but don't follow diets trends.
- toomuchtodo 3y agoProteins and fats vs carbohydrates. Avoid sugars.
- SilasX 3y agoReddit shower thought: Sugary cereal is “part of a balanced breakfast” only in the sense that Darth Vader is “part of the balanced Force”.
- SideburnsOfDoom 3y ago"part of a balanced breakfast / diet" always has been weasel words to the effect of "if you eat healthy foods as well as the product, then your overall diet will be somewhat healthy on balance". See The McLibel case, 1997 (1) particularly the statement "You could eat a roll of Sellotape as part of a balanced diet" (2) 1) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McLibel_case https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/McLibel_case 2) https://www.mcspotlight.org/case/trial/story.html https://www.mcspotlight.org/case/trial/story.html
- mortureb 3y agoI never understood why Americans had so much breakfast cereal. It’s basically highly sweetened rolled corn. If you don’t eat it with milk you’re not get much nutrition at all.
- throwaway2037 3y agoAll major cereal brands in the United States are loaded with multiple vitamins.
- Cold_Miserable 3y agoAustrian organic dark chocolate granola is delectable.
- hedora 3y agoIt’s interesting that there is an uptick in private label brands. The only options I can find that are not loaded with glyphosate, sugar or salt, and that also still have fiber in them are private label or from companies not included on the graph. Post, General Mills, and Kellogs don’t sell organic options with their own branding, so all their stuff has glyphosate applied at harvest (search for: round up drying agent) Kellogs owns Kashi which (I think is still organic), and the local stores don’t carry Kashi stuff that meets my requirements any more. The manufacturers with reasonable offerings that I know of are: Amazon (365 whole foods market brand), nature’s path (privately held) food for life (38 employees; independent), and probably trader joes. They all would either be excluded from the analysis in the article or put under “private label” which is increasing slightly over time. However, their combined marketing budget is some tiny fraction of the companies pumping out unhealthy garbage. Maybe if finding non-terrible cereal wasn’t a complicated project, then sales would start ticking back up.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- hollerith 3y agoI almost always avoid glyphosate, too--by almost always choosing the organic version.
- user3939382 3y agoYeah trying to eat food that is organic and not loaded with sugar eliminates the majority of commonly available food in the US.
- ipnon 3y agoJust go straight to the source and eat oatmeal. It’s nutritious, delicious (give it some time), and affordable. Cut out the corporate middle men from your consumption of abundant and cheap whole grains!
- plasma_beam 3y agoGoodness I’ve tried it so many times, even cheating and putting a little maple syrup in it, granola, cinnamon. Still can’t stand it. Reminds me of the gloop they eat in the matrix. I wish I liked it. Do you eat it plain?
- someonehere 3y agoWeird Food History had an excellent video on 80s cereals https://youtu.be/usdP5c_z9T8 https://youtu.be/usdP5c_z9T8
- adav 3y agoThe reason I buy cereal less is because it’s now so unbelievably expensive. I treat myself when the own-brands are on offer.
- diogenescynic 3y agoGood riddance. It's basically junk food now--it's loaded with sugar, HFCS, and preservatives. There's glyphosate in Cheerios! It's probably one of contributing causes of childhood obesity.
- meroes 3y agoI tend to skip breakfast if I don’t have something very easy to digest at hand and unfortunately cereal is that. And I haven’t found other alternatives. My stomach is very weak in the morning but I don’t want to skip breakfast. But I’m going to try some other options. My diet is much better after breakfast, I don’t know why I can only tolerate extremely easy to digest food at breakfast.
- dav_Oz 3y agoWhen 12ish I realized that my mental clarity was actually better throughout school when I skipped breakfast because I was too late; and initially I just thought this: it was due to sleeping longer. But I observed the same thing later in high school when I got up on time but forgot to buy milk and hence went to school fasted. Back then, I thought "break(ing your)fast" was somehow important for your energy levels at the start of the day (good PR!) so I was hesitant to follow really through and I guess the latent sugar cravings did the rest (but I remember not being "hangry" as others described it). Now, after experimenting with a lot of regiments, I know that I'm far better off by "skipping breakfast". As a general rule of thumb giving your body a rest time of 12 hours and not eating 2 hours before sleeping gives your body an additional strong signal for its diurnal coordination. That being said I knew a very athletic guy who before sleeping devoured 3000kcal (he barely ate throughout the day) and then judging by his exceptional body composition and athletic achievements could recover excellently.
- gaucheries 3y agoI switched to yogurt. I like eating Greek yogurt (lately Fage 0% fat) with blueberries, granola, hemp seeds, and chia seeds. It seems like the adult version of breakfast cereal to me.
- fennecfoxy 3y ago(as a Millenial) Oh no. Anyway. Even healthy cereal is incredibly energy dense, we have no need for it unless you're active enough (not so many wfh developers). That aside so many cereals (esp in America) are just sugar bombs. Children could do with a solid energy dense breakfast, less sugar more plain oats & other cereals. Adults, it depends. But nobody needs coco puffs, except only as a treat.
- tcbawo 3y agoIn the grocery story the other day, I noticed Kit Kat cereal on the shelf. Who would buy that and consider it an even remotely nutritious meal, I don’t know.
- uncletaco 3y agoYou don’t buy it for nutrition. You buy it because it’s delicious and turns the milk into chocolate milk.
- diogenes4 3y agoHave people forgotten that sugar is literally a nutrient?
- Khartoum 3y agoAs a part of a balanced diet, yes. In the quantities we're all taking about, it's hard to say these "breakfasts" are positively contributing though.
- diogenes4 3y ago> As a part of a balanced diet, yes. It's a nutrient. This is an enumerable set of chemicals. Balancing nutrition is a different matter entirely. > In the quantities we're all taking about, it's hard to say these "breakfasts" are positively contributing though. I eat sugary cereals every morning, and it's about half my daily sugar consumption. I don't see any problem with it—I don't have diabetes, I have a healthy weight, etc. The idea that foods are somehow inherently bad because they're sugary is ridiculous. It's the eating habits that are unhealthy, not the food. Sugar isn't rat poison ffs.
- davidcollantes 3y agoUnlocked article gift link: https://www.wsj.com/finance/investing/cereal-decline-breakfast-trend-6dd591e8?st=hq5rzw7t8bt3kjh&reflink=desktopwebshare_permalink https://www.wsj.com/finance/investing/cereal-decline-breakfa...
- beezle 3y agoIn the US there are a resonable number of healthy cereals to pick from. The downside of cereal is milk. Ignorning lactose tolerance, 1 cup of milk has 12g of sugar - equivalent of three teaspoons of white sugar.
- Tempest1981 3y agoLove the picture of the cereal aisle, with all those colorful graphics. My favorite was the bidirectional boxes in Mexico, after being forced to add warning labels on the front: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37245593 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37245593 > Companies like Coca-Cola and Kraft Heinz have begun designing their products so that their packages don’t have a true front or back, but rather two nearly identical labels — except for the fact that only one side has the required warning. As a result, supermarket clerks often place the products with the warning facing inward, effectively hiding it.
- SergeAx 3y agoI could not stand oatmeal while being a child. Now it is my favorite breakfast dish, alongside eggs. Plain or milk based - no matter. I don't know how it happened, but it is a blessing approaching my 50.
- AlbertCory 3y agoIn the Before Times, the cereal aisle was full of things like Wheaties, Cheerios, Total, Special-K, Chex, and other things that were, at least, not that terrible. They still had the Chocolate Frosted Sugar Bombs that Calvin liked, but they were at eye level for a kid in a grocery cart. Now those cereals are still there, but obscenely overpriced, and the aisle is full of Calvin Cereals.
- xyst 3y agoThe only cereal I eat now is regular Cheerios. Not the sugar coated crap. Just plain jane cheerios with some non-dairy milk. So far numbers lipid panels looking good for me. Plus significant reduction in meat consumption and replaced with more leaner protein options. Personally, when I am lazy my go to is poke bowls. Easy to prepare and a plethora of vegetable options to explore
- kazinator 3y agoBreakfast cereal has this problem: everything in the cereal isle of a typical supermarket is way overpriced for what it is, and the size and weight of the boxes. And you still need milk with it.
- expazl 3y agoRemember kids, breakfast is the most important meal of the day (TM)! So make sure you start it huge dose of sugar dressed up in funny colors! This will all but guarantee you'll have a blood glucose crash in the early hours of your day, which is a sure fire way to make your day worse, but look at that cute lion! Isn't he fun!?
- pers0n 3y agoCereal is really dessert in terms of nutrition
- uslic001 3y agoI still eat sugar laden kids cereal every day since childhood. I am 58 now. I rarely exercise beyond walking 3-4 days a week. I have normal BMI, normal blood pressure, and I am not diabetic. I am not convinced they are as bad for you as some "experts" claim.
- TurkishPoptart 3y agoI remember craving Calvin's "Chocolate-Frosted Sugar Bombs" as a kid. [1] Now I know most cereal is more unhealthy than this sounds, and likely not even using real chocolate (aka chocolate-colored palm oil derivative). [1]: https://calvinandhobbes.fandom.com/wiki/Chocolate_Frosted_Sugar_Bombs https://calvinandhobbes.fandom.com/wiki/Chocolate_Frosted_Su...
- reify 3y agoits been in decline for many years Grain Brain: The Surprising Truth about Wheat, Carbs, and Sugar - Your Brain's Silent Killers by David Perlmutter