A Touch of Honey

October 15, 12:52 PMFood ExaminerEric Burkett

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Wait! It could be a trap!

So, I’m sitting at the bar in the kitchen, listening to the news and eating a bowl of cereal, Post’s Honey Bunches of Oats, to be specific. On the back of the box, a promo for the cereal reads “Crispy flakes… crunchy oat clusters… a touch of honey… that’s why One Spoonful Is All It Takes!”

A touch of honey; I like that. Then I take a gander at the ingredients: “Corn, whole grain wheat, sugar, whole grain rolled oats, brown sugar, high oleic vegetable oil (Canola or sunflower oil), rice flower, corn syrup, wheat flour, malted barley flour, salt, rice, fructose, whey (from milk), honey, malted corn and barley syrup, caramel color, artificial flavor, natural flavor, annatto extract (color).”

Seven of the 20 ingredients are either straight-up sweeteners or ingredients processed to enhance their sweetness such as the malted barley flour. I’m not picking on Post specifically. Also in my cupboard is a box of – I am not making this up – Nature’s Path Organic Optimum Zen Cereal (“For Inner Harmony”). While it doesn’t contain as many sweeteners as does the Honey Bunches of Oats, it does list organic evaporated cane juice as its second ingredient. Other sweeteners include organic molasses and barley malt extract, as well as organic oat syrup solids.

Bowl for bowl, Optimum Zen comes in at 13 grams of sugar versus Post’s 6 grams. Keep in mind, too, that a bowl for measurement purposes is a completely unrealistic three quarters of a cup. Really. I would estimate that I probably ate at least two cups, meaning that I actually consumed 15 grams of sugars for breakfast. If I'd eaten Optimum Zen, I would have consumed more than 30 grams of sugar.

A touch of honey, indeed.