MINNEAPOLIS – The Trix Rabbit and that Lucky Charms leprechaun are going on a whole-grain diet.
General Mills announced Thursday that it will convert all of its breakfast cereals to whole grains. The nation’s No. 2 cereal producer behind Kellogg Co. is the latest food company to give its products a nutritional makeover as pressure grows from the government and consumer groups to make children’s food healthier.
General Mills spokesman Tom Johnson said the whole-grain conversion will include 29 cereals, including Trix, Golden Grahams, Lucky Charms and Rice Chex. Other General Mills cereals, such as Wheaties, Cheerios and Total, already are made with whole grains.
The new recipes and packaging will be launched in October, Johnson said. He declined to say whether the change would affect General Mills’ manufacturing costs, but the company said it would not increase the price retailers pay for cereal.
Nutritionists say eating whole grains is better than processed grains because they contain more fiber, vitamins and minerals, and are more filling.
The company said the change will add 26 million servings of whole grains per day to the American diet. General Mills said testing with 9,000 consumers showed no difference in taste.
Lona Sandon, a nutritionist at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, said the new whole-grain cereals will be a major improvement over their predecessors.
“If I had kids, I would not allow them to eat (children’s cereals) the way they’re made right now,” she said. “Kids need to get whole grains in their diet just as much as adults. Right now we’re looking at a childhood obesity crisis, and this is maybe one way to address that.”
Americans eat $6 billion of cereal – 2.1 billion boxes – every year, not counting sales through Wal-Mart, which doesn’t share data for marketing surveys, according to Information Resources Inc., a marketing data firm.
“I think they’re making a bet that health will sell,” said economics professor Jean Kinsey, co-director of the Food Industry Center at the University of Minnesota. “It’s a marketing ploy that’s very compatible with public health.”
The General Mills move follows a recent recommendation by a federal advisory panel that people should eat whole-grain products rather than refined grains to reduce risks of heart disease and other chronic conditions.
A handful of companies have modified their products as interest grows in the public health implications of foods. Last year, Kraft Foods Inc. began reducing the fat content in 200 products in North America and capping portions for single-serve packaged snacks. It also quit marketing snacks at school.
And fast-food chains McDonald’s Corp. and Wendy’s International Inc. have revamped their children’s menus to promote milk and fruit.
On Thursday, Kellogg said nearly 50 varieties of its cereal products contain whole grains and fiber. The company said it is “committed to staying abreast of the latest scientific research, particularly since fiber has numerous health benefits.”
Sandon said the sugar content in most cereals still concerns her.
“That might be the next direction General Mills might want to investigate,” she said. “We still don’t need as much sugar as most of us eat in our diets.”
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
