Product Recall: According to the Associated Press, cereal maker Kellogg recently recalled 28 million boxes of Apple Jacks, Corn Pops, Froot Loops and Honey Smacks because of “an unusual smell and flavor from the packages’ liners.” A chemical apparently made many people ill.
My 2 cents: Never mind the current packaging issue, in my opinion as a nutritionist, these cereals have made people ill for decades—just more slowly.

That may sound like a punch-line, but with shocking levels of childhood obesity and diabetes it’s no laughing matter. Those cereals are refined foods—most of the nutrition in the original grain has been removed. Kellogg changed the names (e.g. “Sugar Corn Pops” became “Corn Pops” and “Sugar Smacks” is now “Honey Smacks”) but they still have loads of sugar. Sugar is the first ingredient in some and may be as much as ½ the product by weight according to Consumer Reports. Read about a few effects of sugar here. Some of these cereals contain partially hydrogenated fat which is a source of Trans fats even if the label says “zero”. Chemical flavors, colors and preservatives are no blessing either. If you are sufficiently health conscious to read this newsletter, it’s not likely that you give your kids or grandkids this kind of junk. So, we can all shake our heads in disbelief that other folks have purchased 28 million boxes. If you eat cereal (and I’m not saying you should), aim for one with fiber that is nearly equal to the amount of sugar.