Post Screws Around With Grape-Nuts

Most cereal is candy masquerading as breakfast. Mrs. Fussy and I were running errands together yesterday and found ourselves in the cereal aisle. She doesn’t get out much, and was shocked to see how much food wasn’t actually food.

It was difficult for her to find a box of something boring. She loves boring cereal.

The game I play with the kids when we shop together is to look for a box of cereal that looks like the least fun cereal in the entire store. They are remarkably good at finding something that will suit their mother.

I’m trying to eat healthier too. But when I’m in rural PA and can’t find lightly sweetened organic flakes made from heritage grains, my fall back option has always been Grape-Nuts. Except there was a problem. As I was giving Mrs. Fussy the business about why she should read the ingredients on her generic bran flakes, I remembered to take my own good advice and double checked that the ingredients on this 116 year old brand remained unchanged.

After reading the label, I put the cereal back on the shelf, and walked away crestfallen.

The front of the box should have been a clue. But boxes have callouts on them all the time. About some promotion, or highlighting some benefit of the cereal. So at first, I didn’t pay much attention to the green bar along the top edge that read, “Now with 8g of protein.”

Now? Why now? Oh Post! What have you done?

There wasn’t anything wrong with the protein in the original formulation. The natural occurring protein in the grains gave a half cup serving 6g of protein. It was protein enough to fuel Edmund Hillary’s 1953 climb to the summit of Mount Everest.

Here’s the lesson. ALWAYS. READ. INGREDIENTS. Read the ingredients on brands that have been selling their original formula for over 100 years. Read the ingredients on those pantry staples you buy week in and week out. Read the ingredients every single time, because those sneaky MBAs in brand management have proven time and time again that they are intent to raise their profits by cutting costs through the use of inferior ingredients.

The added protein in Grape-Nuts now comes from Isolated Soy Protein.

Okay. So why is this a problem? Let me count the ways. For starters you could be allergic to soy and a regular Grape-Nuts eater who only noticed the formulation change by getting sick. Or you could be one of those people who happens to believe that ISP is not good for you at all. Or you might just want to avoid ingredients that require super toxic solvents to extract them for your breakfast cereal. Or you could be opposed to GMOs and recognize that the vast majority of soy requires a technology licensing agreement to plant and grow.

Maybe, just maybe, you thought that 6g of protein was plenty–especially if you were going to enjoy your cereal with milk or yogurt that will add even more protein to your breakfast–and don’t require any more thankyouverymuch.

Most likely if you are eating Grape-Nuts you are a crotchety old person like me anyway. And if that’s the case, you probably simply don’t like change. That’s why you are eating a 116 year old cereal.

Who in their right mind thought this was a good idea?

Luckily I did happen to read the ingredients. So I put the Grape-Nuts back on the shelf. As it turned out there was a generic form of the cereal that still was blissfully Isolated Soy Protein free. So that’s what I bought. Even if they turn out not be as good as the original, they are still better than what Post is putting on the shelf and calling Grape-Nuts today.

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Update: Post has brought back the original four ingredient Grape Nuts. Read more here.
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