July 24, 2009 in Sports

Breakfast of real champions

Wheaties plans cereal made by, for athletes

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MINNEAPOLIS – Cereal maker General Mills Inc. said Thursday it will launch a new version of Wheaties it says is designed for athletes, with input from athletes such as NFL quarterback Peyton Manning and NBA star Kevin Garnett.

The Golden Valley, Minn.-based company says it is testing three types of the new version of Wheaties, with athletes and some readers of Men’s Health magazine. It will announce the new product in September.

The company said in a news release the new version, called Wheaties Fuel, will not replace the 85-year-old original Wheaties when it hits stores in January.

General Mills plans to market the cereal as helping athletes with endurance and energy.

Besides Manning and Garnett, other athletes working on the project include baseball player Albert Pujols, gold-medal decathlete Brian Clay and triathlete Hunter Kemper.

They worked with Wheaties food scientists to develop a formula that would meet their nutritional needs, with aims to enhance endurance and energy.

The company has launched online videos on its Wheaties Web site featuring the athletes.

The three possible varieties are: lightly sweetened whole wheat flakes with granola and crispy rice, with cinnamon and honey; lightly sweetened whole wheat flakes with cinnamon clusters; or lightly sweetened whole grain wheat and bran flakes with fruit and crunchy almonds.

The original Wheaties was born in 1924 when a health clinician accidentally spilled a wheat bran mixture onto a hot stove. The mixture turned into crispy wheat flakes.

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