Adult, children tasters give new fruity-flavored cereals mixed reviews

Look out, Fruit Loops – the berry-flavored cereal shelf is suddenly a bit crowded.

Cereal makers have infused the venerable Cheerios and Rice Krispies cereals with fruit flavors. We convened our annual panel of both adult and children tasters to taste the new Fruity Cheerios and Berry Krispies with mixed results.

Adult tasters liked the Fruity Cheerios slightly better than the kids who joined The Spokesman-Review’s reader food panel monthly meeting. The adults gave the cereal four stars for taste. The children, who ranged in age from 6 to 16, gave it a slightly lower three-and-a-half star rating.

“I love the colors – they alone should be enough to wake you up. No sugar overkill either,” said panel member Donald Clegg.

Fellow panelist Laura Hollman agreed: “This is a good kid cereal. It’s brightly colored and fruity, but not nearly as sweet as other kid cereals. Good choice, less sugar.”

The Cheerios are sweetened with fruit juice and contain 25 percent less sugar than “the leading fruity cereal,” according to General Mills.

Kids said they liked the crunchy texture, but a few said they noticed the missing sugar.

“I like that they’re crunchy,” Drew Kazanis, 8, told his mother. “It could use a little more sugar.”

Sixteen-year-old Chris Hollman noticed, too: “For being so multi-colored, it’s surprisingly low on sugar. It’s bland.”

Carter Martin, 8, said he won’t be begging his Mom for the cereal: “It’s OK, but I wouldn’t have it all the time.”

Berry Krispies fared better overall with most of the kids on our panel.

Seven-year-old Ali Williams gave them the highest rating possible: “It is very excellent.”

Grace Kohler, 7, asked for help to spell “delicious.”

But older taste buds detected too much artificial flavoring for their taste. Chris Hollman said, “This cereal is stealthy, (it) looks innocent, but tastes like cleaning agent.”

His sister, Laura Hollman, 19, also was put off by the flavoring: “What happened? No fruit was harmed in the making of this cereal. Tastes like chemicals.”

Others said the Krispies didn’t hold up well in milk.

“Very little snap, crackle and pop. Eat them fast before they turn soggy,” said panel member Jenny Whittaker.

Not every adult was unimpressed. Both Marilyn Moore and Tina Johnson said they couldn’t wait to try making Rice Krispies Treats with the new berry-flavored cereal.

Fruity Cheerios

Price: $3.67 per 11.5-ounce box

Nutrition per 3/4-cup serving: 100 calories, 1 gram fat (no saturated fat, 10 percent fat calories), 1 gram protein, 23 grams carbohydrate, no cholesterol, 2 grams dietary fiber, 135 milligrams sodium.

Adults

Taste: • • • •

Value: • • 1/2

Comments: “Didn’t wait for the milk. I dove right in to eat as finger snacks – what a way to teach a baby the colors of the rainbow.” – Marilyn Moore

“Tastes like Trix, shaped like Cheerios. I would have loved these as a kid. Great colors.” – Marcia Oranen

Kids

Taste: • • • 1/2

Comments: “It’s very crunchy.” – Carter Martin, 8

“At the end it kinda loses its taste.” – Katie Kazanis, 6

“For being so multi-colored, it’s surprisingly low on sugar. It’s bland.” – Chris Hollman, 16

Berry Krispies

Price: $2.49 per 14.7-ounce box

Nutrition per 1-cup serving: 120 calories, no fat, 2 grams protein, 27 grams carbohydrate, cholesterol, no dietary fiber, 220 milligrams sodium.

Adults

Taste: • •

Value: • • 1/2

Comments: “Crunchy fake strawberry sugar overkill – the kids probably love it.” – Donald Clegg

“I like crispy cereal and these colors would make awesomely beautiful rice crispy treats.” – Tina Johnson

“One minute after milk it’s already mush! And the flavor evaporated, too.” – Larry Inman

Kids

Taste: • • • 1/2

Comments: “I just didn’t like them.” – Katie Kazanis, 6

“They got very mushy. They’re good when they’re not mushy.” – Drew Kazanis, 8

“Sweeeet.” – Scott Breuer, 12