Ummmmm.... Give Me a Donut

Time to re-think that low-sugar Cinnamon Toast Crunch...

Could this be the end of cereal aisle showdowns between parents and sweet-toothed tots? New reduced-sugar versions of popular children's breakfast cereals — everything from Froot Loops to Frosted Flakes — certainly sound promising, but consumers might want to hold off chiming in when Tony the Tiger says, "They're Gr-r-reat!"

Experts who reviewed the lower-sugar versions of six major brands of sweetened cereals at the request of The Associated Press found they have no significant nutritional advantages over their full-sugar counterparts.

Nutrition scientists at five universities found that while the new cereals do have less sugar, the calories, carbohydrates, fat, fiber and other nutrients are almost identical to the full-sugar cereals. That's because the cereal makers have replaced sugar with refined carbohydrates to preserve the crunch.

Officials at General Mills, Kellogg's and Post were unable to explain why the new cereals are a better choice, but noted they give consumers more options about how much sugar they eat.

So apparently these cereals taste worse and offer no significant nutritional benefit. I'm glad they explained that in detail.

Jokes aside, I'm tired of people painting the food industry as some evil monolith that forces parents to buy sugary stuff for the little ones. Is parenting a tough job? Absolutely. And I wish there were more healthy options out there. But kids eat sugar because it tastes good. Parents are capable of imposing the necessary discipline on their kids -- mine did, even with both of them working. It's tough, but that's the job.