2025 Healthiest Cereal Guide

Four13 Developers
2025 Healthiest Cereal Guide
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Approximately 283 million Americans eat cold cereal every day. If you’re one of them, you probably want to find the best organic cereal brand. We hope this guide will help you enjoy this convenient breakfast food without compromising you health!

As a child of the 1950’s, most mornings I ate cold cereal for breakfast. We could help ourselves so that my mom was free to do other chores. My father thought boxed cereal was great because, as a child of the Depression era, he had to eat porridge or oatmeal every day. He often commented how fortunate we were to have tasty cereal! During this time, cereals blossomed into the sweet treat we know today.

Back then, most cereal brands were named “Sugar This” or “Sugar That.” Kellogg Sugar Smacks were a favorite in my childhood home, and they have the distinction of having the most sugar by weight of any cereal on the market, then or now. Fifty-six percent of the cereal was sugar! (BTW: When we ran out of cold cereal, we took white bread, sprinkled sugar on it, and poured milk over it.)

When I had my own children in the 1980’s, I had just rejected eating any sugar (the book Sugar Blues was popular back then). Like my own father, my kids grew up eating porridge. I’d cook rice, millet, oats, and other whole grains with soy milk adding a little honey or maple syrup for sweetness.

There were a few cereal brands that didn’t have added sugar but they were hard to find–Erewhon’s Crispy Brown Rice, Oatios, and Kellogg’s Nutri Grain cereal were our the best organic cereal brands back then, but the they all have since been discontinued! Today, sugar has crept back into most cold cereals–even the organic, “healthy” ones. But there are still nutrient-rich, non-toxic boxed cereals to be found. This guide will go over the best organic cereal brands.

How to Find Best Organic Cereal

Just like everything else, label-reading is important when shopping for the best organic cereal. When categorizing the brands for this guide, we considered:

  • Grams of sugar. We looked for ones with less than five, ideally. (We recommend that children consume less than a total of 25 grams of sugar per day.)
  • Type of sugar. We gave preference to brands that use healthier sugars like coconut, maple, or honey.
  • Type of fat. Vegetable oils have no reason to be in cereals except for granola. If a cereal contains oil, we looked for high quality oils like coconut or olive. Sunflower oil is not poison (despite what you’ve heard!), but it’s ubiquitous and not especially healthful so we eliminated the cereals that contained that from our Good Stuff category.
  • Sugar to fiber/protein ratio. We scanned nutritional panels to find those cereals where the combined grams of fiber and protein exceed the grams of sugar. Our top pick, Ezekial’s Original, has just 1 gram of sugar, and with 8 grams of protein and 6 grams of fiber, the ratio is 1:14.
  • Number of ingredients. When it comes to cereal, fewer ingredients is usually better, although there are some exceptions to this.
  • Quality of ingredients. We dinged brands for fillers like “modified corn starch,” and gave preference to brands that contain organic ingredients.
  • Rice. You’ve probably heard that rice, and particularly brown rice, is often contaminated with arsenic. Consider eating rice cereal in moderation, especially if there is a lot of other rice in your diet.

What cereal is the healthiest to eat?

The bottom line: Food for Life Ezekiel 4:9 Sprouted Grain Crunchy Cereal is the best organic cereal, and packs the most nutritional bang per spoonful.

(Read more about this brand under Good Stuff below.)

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A Problem with “Healthy” Cereal: Extruded Grains

Our Healthy Baby Puffs Guide offers details on what’s wrong with pretty much all boxed cold cereals, which is the process of extrusion. The bottom line is this: extrusion–mixing grains with water and processing that paste through a special device (plus high heat) to produce a desired shape–compromises the integrity of the grains’ nutrients, breaks the bonds of fatty acids, inactivates enzymes, and increases the glycemic index of the food.

This is one reason that really no cold cereal can be considered truly a whole natural food when compared to, say, a bowl of oatmeal.

Sugar Matters: Healthier Cereal Sweeteners

Cane sugar’s glycemic index is 68, so we consider this the least healthful sweetener in cereal. Here are some better options.

  • Coconut sugar has a glycemic index of 35. Coconut sugar retains many nutrients found in the coconut palm — including iron, zinc, calcium, and potassium. Coconut sugar also contains the soluble fiber inulin, which is linked to a lower risk of blood sugar spikes. 
  • Maple syrup has a glycemic index of 54. Maple syrup has a nutritional advantage over sugar because it does not contain any additives, and the processing allows it to retain its nutrients, including manganese, riboflavin, zinc, magnesium, calcium, and potassium. Maple syrup is rich in antioxidants and therefore has anti-inflammatory and prebiotic activity, so it may help support gut health.
  • Honey has a glycemic index of 58. While honey comes with more calories, carbohydrates, and grams of sugar than white sugar does, it does have more nutrients and health properties to offer. It contains more vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants, such as calcium, potassium, vitamin C, zinc, phenolic acids, and flavonoids.

Good Stuff

365 Organic Morning O’s

The Whole Foods brand of 0 cereal are definitely Good Stuff, with low sugar and a good amount of protein and fiber. The ingredients in this brand changed since the last time I wrote this guide. They’ve added wheat starch, but I’m not worried about that one.

Sugar: 2 grams
Protein: 5 grams
Fiber: 3 grams

Ingredients: Organic Whole Grain Oat Flour, Organic Wheat Starch, Organic Cane Sugar, Sea Salt, Calcium Carbonate, Mixed Tocopherols (Added To Maintain Freshness).

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365 Organic Morning O’s

Arrowhead Mills Organic Oat Bran Flakes

This one is also sweetened with only apple juice concentrates. I like that it doesn’t contain rice. If you find their spelt or kamut flakes, those are also Good Stuff.

Sugar: 6 grams
Protein: 7 grams
Fiber: 6 grams

Ingredients: Organic Whole Oat Flour, Organic Oat Bran, Organic Apple or Pear Juice Concentrate, Sea Salt, Ascorbic Acid, Mixed Tocopherols (to preserve freshness).

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Arrowhead Mills Organic Oat Bran Flakes

Arrowhead Mills Organic Puffed Kamut

If you want the least possible number of ingredients, this is the best organic cereal you can find. Note that the Arrowhead Mills Puffed Rice, puffed corn, and puffed millet cereals are not organic, but we still consider them Good Stuff.

Sugar: 1 gram
Protein: 2 grams
Fiber: 1 gram

Ingredients: Puffed Kamut

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Arrowhead Mills Organic Puffed Kamut

Back Roads

Back Roads makes some of my favorite granola, which is sweetened with maple syrup and honey and often has as few as 2 grams of added sugar per serving. Back Roads makes grain-free varieties as well.

Sugar: 4 grams
Protein: 4 grams
Fiber: 3 gram

Sample Ingredients: Certified Gluten Free Rolled Oats, Vermont Maple Syrup, Raisins, Coconut Chips, Almonds, Cashews, High Oleic Sunflower Oil, Sunflower Seeds, Pumpkin Seeds, Sesame Seeds And Shredded Coconut.

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Back Roads

Barbara’s Organic Corn Flakes

Barbara’s Organic Corn Flakes is the best gluten-free cereal we could find, with a simple ingredient list and no white sugar.

Sugar: 1 gram
Protein: 2 grams
Fiber: 1 gram

Ingredients: Organic Non-Gmo Corn, Organic Fruit Juice Concentrate (Pear Or Apple), Sea Salt.

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Barbara’s Organic Corn Flakes

Cascadian Farms Organic Purely O‘s

This is the best O cereal we reviewed, with whole grains and no white sugar.

Sugar: 1 gram
Protein: 4 grams
Fiber: 4 grams

Ingredients: Whole Grain Oats*, Whole Grain Barley*, Wheat Starch*, Malted Barley Extract*, Sea Salt, Oats*, Calcium Carbonate, Malted Barley*. Vitamin E (mixed tocopherols) Added to Preserve Freshness. *Organic

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Cascadian Farms Organic Purely O‘s

Cascadian Farms Mixed Berry Cereal

This one is sweetened with only fruit. Because it is organic and on the low sugar side we made an exception for the sunflower oil. Note that this one contains rice.

Sugar: 6 grams
Protein: 5 grams
Fiber: 6 grams

Ingredients: Whole Grain Wheat*, Rice*, Date Powder*, Sunflower Oil*, Coconut Oil*, Dried Blueberries*, Dried Strawberries*, Sea Salt, Natural Flavor*. Vitamin E (mixed tocopherols) Added to Preserve Freshness. *Organic

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Cascadian Farms Mixed Berry Cereal

Cascadian Farms Vanilla Crisp Cereal

Another good option from Cascadian Farms, this variety is sweetened with date powder. Again, we wish they’d skip the sunflower oil and rice!

Sugar: 5 grams
Protein: 5 grams
Fiber: 5 grams

Ingredients: Whole Grain Wheat*, Rice*, Date Powder*, Sunflower Oil*, Coconut Oil*, Sea Salt, Natural Flavor*. Vitamin E (mixed tocopherols) Added to Preserve Freshness. *Organic

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Food for Life Ezekiel Sprouted Whole Grain Cereal

This is probably the healthiest boxed cereal on the market, made from sprouted organic grains and beans. The sweetener here comes from malted barley, which is made when the barley grain germinates. The consistency of this cereal is akin to Grapenuts, which I happen to love! While I deem this the best organic cereal, my grandkids disagree;).

Sugar: 1 gram
Protein: 8 grams
Fiber: 6 grams

Ingredients: Organic Sprouted Whole Wheat, Organic Malted Barley, Organic Sprouted Whole Barley, Organic Sprouted Whole Millet, Organic Sprouted Whole Lentils, Organic Sprouted Whole Soybeans, Organic Sprouted Whole Spelt, Filtered Water, Sea Salt.

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Food for Life Ezekiel Sprouted Whole Grain Cereal

Lovebird Grain-Free Cereal

We are grateful to our readers for introducing us to this cereal! The unsweetened variety has a very simple ingredients list, and even the sweetened flavors rely on coconut sugar. If you follow a gluten-free or even Paleo-style diet, Lovebird is a great cereal choice. The unsweetened variety has only four ingredients.

Sugar: 1 gram
Protein: 1 gram
Fiber: 3 gram

Ingredients: Organic Cassava, Organic Coconut, Organic Coconut Oil, Sea Salt

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Lovebird Grain-Free Cereal

Love Grown

We like that this brand contains a bean blend, making it higher in protein, and that it is low in sugar. The Power O’s have no added sugar, and none of the other flavors has more than 6 grams. This cereal is really tasty–my grandkids love all the flavors. You can see how Maia eats it here.

Use code GIMME10 for 10% off all Love Grown cereals at Hive.

Sugar: 1 gram
Protein: 6 grams
Fiber: 5 grams

Ingredients: Bean blend (navy beans, lentils, garbanzo beans), brown rice flour, salt, vitamin E (to maintain freshnesss).

Buy from Amazon Buy from Hive
Love Grown

Nature’s Path Heritage Flakes

These flakes are made with six ancient grains, including quinoa and millet, and are sweetened with honey. My grandson Wolfie says, “When I leaved the room to go to the bathroom and come back, they aren’t mushy!”

Sugar: 5 grams
Protein: 5 grams
Fiber: 7 grams

Ingredients: Organic KAMUT khorasan wheat flour, organic wheat bran, organic whole wheat meal, organic cane sugar, organic whole oat flour, organic spelt flour, organic barley flour, organic whole millet, organic barley malt extract, organic quinoa, sea salt, organic honey.

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Nature’s Path Heritage Flakes

One Degree Brown Rice Crisps

We always recommend eating rice in moderation, but we do love that this rice cereal is sweetened with just coconut sugar.

Sugar: 1 gram
Protein: 2 grams
Fiber: 1 gram

Ingredients: Organic sprouted whole grain brown rice, organic coconut sugar, unrefined salt, tocopherols (vitamin E).

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One Degree Brown Rice Crisps

One Degree Coconut Hibiscus Granola

This granola is lightly sweetened with coconut sugar and uses olive oil for the fat. Be sure to read the label of all of the One Degree granolas. Some are sweetened with white sugar and some have sunflower oil instead of olive oil.

Sugar: 5 grams
Protein: 3 grams
Fiber: 3 grams

Ingredients: sprouted gluten-free organic oats, organic coconut sugar, organic extra virgin olive oil, organic coconut flakes, organic hibiscus flower, unrefined salt, tocopherols (vitamin e).

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One Degree Coconut Hibiscus Granola

Purely Elizabeth (Granola + Cereal)

The granolas are lightly sweetened with coconut palm sugar and use coconut oil for the fat. I find them too sweet, and at 6 grams in most flavors (the sweeter ones, like chocolate, have 7) they are pushing the limit of what we consider to be Good Stuff. My grandkids love these, however, and they have less sugar than many granolas. Purely Elizabeth’s newer cereal line has similar ingredients and nutritional profile, and their grain-free granola line has slightly more protein.

Sugar: 6 grams
Protein: 3 grams
Fiber: 2 grams

Ingredients: Organic Gluten-Free Oats, Organic Coconut Palm Sugar, Organic Raw Virgin Coconut Oil, Organic Sunflower Seeds, Organic Puffed Amaranth, Organic Millet Flakes, Organic Quinoa Flakes, Organic Chia Seeds, Organic Cinnamon, Salt.

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Purely Elizabeth (Granola + Cereal)

Quinoa Queen Organic Unsweetened

I can’t say these taste very good, but they’ve just got the one ingredient! For those of you asking, “what cereal has the least amount of sugar?”, this is the one! purel

Sugar: 0 grams
Protein: 4 grams
Fiber: 4 grams

Ingredients: 100% Organic Whole Premium Quinoa

Quinoa Queen Organic Unsweetened

Seven Sundays Oat Protein Cereal

We like that this includes upcycled oats, which are left over from oat milk production and upcycled corn, which is left over from the production of corn starch.

Sugar: 6 grams
Protein: 5 grams
Fiber: 3 grams

Sample Ingredients: Upcycled Oat Protein, Upcycled Non-GMO Corn, Cassava Starch, Maple Syrup, Coconut Oil, Apple Juice Concentrate, Apple Powder, Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Sea Salt.

Code: GIMMETHEGOODSTUFF will get you 30% off your entire order on their website.

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Seven Sundays Oat Protein Cereal

Three Wishes

One of our customers asked us to review this cereal, but I have not tried it myself. The ingredients are clean: just chickpea, tapioca, pea protein, and salt.

Sugar: 0
Protein: 8 grams
Fiber: 3 grams

Ingredients: Chickpea, Tapioca, Pea Protein, Salt

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Three Wishes

Okay Stuff

Arrowhead Mills Organic Spelt Flakes

These are only Okay Stuff because they have 9 grams of sugar even though this cereal is sweetened with just apple juice concentrate. 

Ingredients: Organic Whole Grain Spelt (Wheat) Flakes, Organic Fruit Juice Concentrate (Apple or Pear), Sea Salt, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) and Vitamin E (to preserve freshness).

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Arrowhead Mills Organic Spelt Flakes

Cascadian Farms Multigrain Squares

These squares contain 7 grams of white sugar, over our threshold for Good Stuff!

Ingredients: Whole Grain Wheat*, Rice*, Corn Meal*, Sugar*, Sea Salt, Barley Malt Extract*. Vitamin E (mixed tocopherols) Added to Preserve Freshness. *Organic

Cascadian Farms Multigrain Squares

Kirkland Signature Ancient Grains

A lot of you asked about this because you love getting it at Costco. The ingredients are all organic, and include rolled oats, kamut wheat, rolled spelt, almonds, rolled quinoa, rolled amaranth. While this is all great, the nine grams of sugar (per serving) this cereal contains knocks this out of Good Stuff territory.

Ingredients: Whole grain rolled oats, cane sugar, soy oil, KAMUT khorasan wheat, rolled spelt, almonds, inulin, rice starch, rolled quinoa, rolled amaranth, sea salt, molasses, cinnamon, natural vanilla flavor, probiotics, tocopherols

Kirkland Signature Ancient Grains

Magic Spoon

Magic Spoon is a processed cereal made especially for Keto diets. They are mimicking fruity cereals, cocoa cereals, and frosted cereals that are full of sugar and definitely not healthy. If you are looking for a Keto friendly cereal that has no sugar and is high in protein but is like more traditional unhealthy cereals, then this is the cereal for you. It has very little fiber, is not organic, and has sunflower oil, so I cannot call it Good Stuff.

Use code GIMMEMAGICSPOON for free shipping

Sugar: 0
Protein: 14 grams
Fiber: 1 gram

Ingredients: Fruity flavor – Milk Protein Blend (Casein”, Whey Protein Concentrate*), Sweetener Blend (Allulose, Monk Fruit Extract), Oil Blend (High Oleic Sunflower Oil, Avocado Oil), Tapioca Starch, Inulin» (from Chicory Root and/or Agave), Natural Flavor, Salt, Turmeric Extract, Spirulina
Extract, Vegetable Juice” (for color).

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Magic Spoon

Mom’s Best Toasted Wheatfuls Cereals

Most of the cereals of from this brand have 12 or 14 grams of sugar per serving. The Wheatfuls are the best bet from Mom’s Best, as they only contain wheat (but are not organic).

Sugar: 0
Protein: 7 grams
Fiber: 8 grams

Ingredients: Whole Grain Wheat. Freshness preserved with Vitamin E
(mixed tocopherols).

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Mom’s Best Toasted Wheatfuls Cereals

Nature’s Path Heritage O’s

This brand claims 16 grams of whole grains, but the grains (wheat, barley, oat, quinoa, and millet) are all made from flour. We gave this brand extra points for the Eco-Pac bag, which means that it is using 66% less packaging than a cardboard cereal box.

Sugar: 3 grams + 3 added
Protein: 4 grams
Fiber: 3 grams

Ingredients: Organic whole oat flour, organic whole wheat meal, organic Kamut Khorasan wheat flour, organic evaporated cane juice, organic spelt flour, organic barley flour, organic barley malt extract, organic quinoa flour, organic millet flour, sea salt, organic honey.

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Nature’s Path Heritage O’s

Bad Stuff

Any “frosted” cereals are Bad Stuff; for example, Kellogg’s Frosted Mini Wheats have have 11 grams of sugar (plus toxic BHT).

Ingredients: WHOLE GRAIN WHEAT, SUGAR, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF BROWN RICE SYRUP, GELATIN, BHT FOR FRESHNESS. VITAMINS AND MINERALS: REDUCED IRON, FOLIC ACID.

Fruit Loops Marshmallows

There’s so much Bad Stuff here–modified food starch, corn syrup, hydrogenated vegetable oil, and artificial flavors among other things.

Ingredients: Corn Flour Blend (Whole Grain Yellow Corn Flour, Degerminated Yellow Corn Flour), Sugar, Marshmallows (Sugar, Corn Syrup, Dextrose, Natural Flavor, Gelatin, Yellow 5, Red 40, Yellow 6, Blue 1), Wheat Flour, Whole Grain Oat Flour, Modified Food Starch, Contains 2% Or Less Of Vegetable Oil (Hydrogenated Coconut, Soybean And/Or Cottonseed Oil), Oat Fiber, Maltodextrin, Salt, Soluble Corn Fiber, Natural Flavor, Red 40, Yellow 5, Blue 1, Yellow 6, Bht For Freshness. Vitamins And Minerals: Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid), Reduced Iron, Niacinamide, Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine Hydrochloride), Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin), Vitamin B1 (Thiamin Hydrochloride), Folic Acid, Vitamin D3, Vitamin B12.

Fruit Loops Marshmallows

General Mills Cheerios

Although these have a simple ingredient list of whole grain oats, corn starch, sugar, salt, and vitamins, Cheerio’s are not organic and contain tri-potassium phosphate. Still, the ingredients in Cheerios are more healthful than most other conventional cereals.

Ingredients: Whole Grain Oats, Corn Starch, Sugar, Salt, Tripotassium Phosphate. Vitamin E (mixed tocopherols) Added to Preserve Freshness. Vitamins and Minerals: Calcium Carbonate, Iron and Zinc (mineral nutrients), Vitamin C (sodium ascorbate), A B Vitamin (niacinamide), Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine hydrochloride), Vitamin A (palmitate), Vitamin B1 (thiamin mononitrate), A B Vitamin (folic acid), Vitamin B12, Vitamin D3.

General Mills Cheerios

General Mills Honey Nut Cheerios

These contain everything you’ll find in regular Cheerios plus rice bran oil, canola oil, and brown sugar syrup. They also pack 9 grams sugar per serving.

Ingredients: Whole Grain Oats, Sugar, Corn Starch, Honey, Brown Sugar Syrup, Salt, Tripotassium Phosphate, Canola and/or Sunflower Oil, Natural Almond Flavor. Vitamin E (mixed tocopherols) Added to Preserve Freshness. Vitamins and Minerals: Calcium Carbonate, Vitamin C (sodium ascorbate), Iron and Zinc (mineral nutrients), A B Vitamin (niacinamide), Vitamin B6 (pyridoxine hydrochloride), Vitamin B1 (thiamin mononitrate), Vitamin A (palmitate), Vitamin B2 (riboflavin), A B Vitamin (folic acid), Vitamin B12, Vitamin D3.

General Mills Honey Nut Cheerios

Kellogg’s Corn Flakes

These aren’t organic, but they low in sugars with just 3 grams per serving. Unfortunately, these flakes contain the toxic preservative BHT.

Ingredients: Milled Corn, Sugar, Malt Flavor, Contains 2% Or Less Of Salt. Vitamins And Minerals: Iron (Ferric Phosphate), Niacinamide, Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine Hydrochloride), Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin), Vitamin B1 (Thiamin Hydrochloride), Folic Acid, Vitamin D3, Vitamin B12.

Kellogg’s Corn Flakes

Kelloggs Rice Krispies

These contain only rice, sugar, salt, and malt flavor. In addition to not being organic, there is still too much sugar here for us to call them Okay Stuff.

Ingredients: Rice, Sugar, Contains 2% Or Less Of Salt, Malt Flavor. Vitamins And Minerals: Iron (Ferric Phosphate), Niacinamide, Vitamin B6 (Pyridoxine Hydrochloride), Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin), Vitamin B1 (Thiamin Hydrochloride), Folic Acid, Vitamin D3, Vitamin B12.

Kelloggs Rice Krispies

Sneaky Stuff

Annie’s Homegrown (All Varieties)

These all contain too much sugar to be considered Good Stuff. Most varieties have up to 12 grams of added sugar!

Ingredients in Cocoa Bunnies: Whole grain oats, whole grain cornmeal, cane sugar, white rice flour, cocoa powder, tapioca syrup, invert cane syrup, expeller-pressed sunflower oil, sea salt, calcium phosphate, baking soda, natural flavor.

Annie’s Homegrown (All Varieties)

Arrowhead Mills Maple Buckwheat Flakes

Even though this is organic and gluten-free, it has far too much sugar to be considered Good Stuff (14 grams!). We like that it uses maple and honey–but unfortunately it also contains cane sugar. (Note: In searching for a healthy gluten free cereal, I noticed that they often have more sugar content than other categories.)

Ingredients: Organic Whole Grain Buckwheat Grits, Organic Whole Grain Brown Rice Flour, Organic Evaporated Cane Juice, Organic Whole Grain Buckwheat Flour, Organic Maple Syrup, Sea Salt, Organic Honey, Ascorbic Acid (Vitamin C) and Natural Vitamin E (to Preserve Freshness).

Arrowhead Mills Maple Buckwheat Flakes

Barbara’s Morning Oat Crunch Cereal

This cereal says whole grains, but what is has is oat flour and wheat flour mixed with sugar. There are 10 grams of sugar per serving and it’s not organic.

Ingredients: Whole Grain Oat Flour; Whole Grain Wheat Flour; Cane Sugar; Unsulfured Molasses; Pea Protein Concentrate; Sea Salt; Baking Soda; Barley Malt Extract; Tocopherols (Antioxidants To Maintain Freshness)

Barbara’s Morning Oat Crunch Cereal

Barbara’s Puffins Original & Cinnamon

Again, this cereal says whole grain and it’s mostly made of flour with corn bran and oat fiber added in. None of the ingredients is organic.

Ingredients: yellow corn meal with added corn bran, unsulphured molasses, whole oat flour, expeller pressed high oleic oil (canola and/or sunflower, salt, cinnamon, natural flavor, baking soda, vitamin C, natural vitamin E.

Barbara’s Puffins Original & Cinnamon

Cascadian Farm Cocoa Oats/Honey Nut O’s

These varieties contain sunflower oil and 13 and 7 grams of sugar per serving, respectively.

Ingredients: Whole Grain Oats*, Whole Grain Barley*, Cane Sugar*, Wheat Starch*, Malted Barley Extract*, Honey*, Sea Salt, Molasses*, Oats*, Calcium Carbonate, Sunflower Oil*, Malted Barley*, Natural Almond Flavor*. Vitamin E (mixed tocopherols) Added to Preserve Freshness. *Organic

Cascadian Farm Cocoa Oats/Honey Nut O’s

Cascadian Farm Cereal Organic Fruitful O’s

This cereal has 11 grams of sugar. This cereal has all the markers for a healthy choice but it has a lot of sugar.

Ingredients: Whole Grain Yellow Corn Meal*, Cane Sugar*, Yellow Corn Meal*, Whole Grain Purple Corn Flour*, Tapioca Syrup*, Sunflower Oil*, Sea Salt, Calcium Carbonate, Annatto*, Natural Flavor*. Vitamin E (mixed tocopherols) Added to Preserve Freshness. *Organic

Cascadian Farm Cereal Organic Fruitful O’s

Kashi

Now owned by Kellogg, Kashi makes 25 types of cereal, but they all have too much sugar to be Good or Okay Stuff.

Ingredients in Cinnamon Harvest: Whole Grain Wheat*, Cane Sugar*, Cinnamon*, Natural Flavor*. *Organic

Mom’s Best Honey Nut Toasty O’s

This flavor has cane sugar and honey with 13 grams of added sugar!

Ingredients: Whole grain oat flour, sugar, wheat starch, honey, salt, calcium carbonate, trisodium phosphate, caramel color, molasses, natural flavor, vitamins & minerals

Mom’s Best Honey Nut Toasty O’s

Nature’s Path Panda Puffs

These contain soy oil and have 9 grams of sugar per serving. It has only 3 grams of fiber and 3 grams of protein.

Ingredients: Organic whole grain corn meal, organic corn meal, organic cane sugar, organic peanut butter, organic soy oil, sea salt, tocopherols (vitamin e).

Nature’s Path Panda Puffs

Nature’s Path Flax Plus Raisin Bran

I like that this is organic, but it contains 11 grams of sugar per serving. Not sure why they had to add cane sugar when the raisins already provided 5 grams of sugar.

Ingredients: Organic whole wheat meal, organic raisins (coated with organic sunflower oil), organic wheat bran, organic cane sugar, organic flax seeds, organic oat bran, organic barley malt extract, sea salt, tocopherols (vitamin E).

Nature’s Path Flax Plus Raisin Bran

Trader Joe’s O’s

I know that Maia buys this ones for her kids, but it’s not organic, and contains modified corn starch and white sugar. Trader Joe’s Honey Nut O’s are also Sneaky with 9 grams of sugar per serving.

Ingredients: Whole Grain Oats & Oat bran, Modified Corn Starch, Sugar, Oat Fiber & Vitamin E added to Preserve Freshness.

Trader Joe’s O’s

The Granola Problem

Above, you’ll see only a small handful of truly healthful granola brands, listed as Good Stuff. Unfortunately, most brands of granola you find in health food stores contain a lot of either cane sugar or cane syrup and/or seed oils like canola or sunflower. Granola brands we do not recommend include:

  • Cascadian Farm Organic Granola
  • HempYeah! Granola
  • Back to Nature Granola
  • Kind Granola

Please let us know about other cereal brands you love!

To your health,
Author's Signature

Author's Signature

Suzanne, Certified Holistic Health Coach

P.S. You’ll notice in this post that I’ve linked a variety of a lot of these cereals to be purchased at Thrive Market. If you aren’t familiar with Thrive, I encourage you to give it a try. It’s a Costco-meets-Whole Foods-meets-Amazon model, with hard-to-find healthful foods delivered–for free–at steeply discounted prices.

Note: This article contains affiliate links or sponsored content, which means that if you make a purchase, we may earn a commission. We only recommend products that meet our strict standards for non-toxicity and that we use (or want to use!) ourselves. Thank you so much for supporting the brands that make Good Stuff! 

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20 comments

Maia James

Yes, Purely Elizabeth is Good STuff! This guide is in need of an update:)

Ambar

Hello,
What about Purely Elizabeth ancient grains original granola? Their ingredients are organic and seem to be the good stuff!

Sushil Karwa

This is great stuff. Thanks for your extensive research on all the popular cereals. It has always been a problem of plenty for me when it comes to picking the right cereal. Thanks to your super informative guide I can make more educated decisions while choosing the cereal.

However, I haven’t seen Trader Joe’s Organic High Fiber O’s Cereal (https://www.ebay.com/itm/223269186952) here on this list. What do you think about this one? How would you rate this one? Good, okay, bad or sneaky and why?

alex french HI

charli doesnt deserve the tik tok hype and thats on period

Ashley Prisco

I think it’s worth noting that One Degree cereals and granolas are certified Glyphosate free!

Tobi

What are your thoughts on living intentions cereal brand. My four year older loves the cacao crunch!

Bart

Thank you for your ongoing great work. However, I was disappointed that you did not specify how much sugar is in your best-rated Butterfly Bakery Granola from Vermont, perhaps because it’s “just pure maple syrup.” With minor differences, sugar is sugar when it comes to calories and tooth decay. ( “Natural” sugars are also not a realistic source of minerals—nor is sea salt—as some insist. )

You mentioned a preference for palm sugar. I am not familiar with this sugar, but assume it comes from the same source as palm and palm kernel oil——palm plantations created by clearing rain forests. Our use of these products comes at the cost of destruction of habitat for endangered species like the orangutan, destruction of the homelands of native peoples, and increased global warming.

I also disagree with your characterization of coconut oil as a “nutritional powerhouse.” Just because it’s a “natural” saturated fat doesn’t mean it’s great. For most Americans, the problem is not lack of coconut fat, it’s too much fat of all types.

Maia James

I think you’re right to be skeptical. There’s some good evidence that “natural flavors” are Sneaky Stuff.

Maia James

We didn’t look into that line, but we will!

Judith

Hi, I’m always skeptical about anything that has “natural flavors” but since it’s now being included even in organic products, I’m wondering about how safe those are. Do you have any input?

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