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.
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?
Victoria
Finally I am on the right track. Been giving my LO the CF O’s since he was a baby. Would like to know what you think of Kashi’s new kid’s line. Is it OK in small amounts? I mix the O’s with them. the cinnamon, cocoa, or berry combo sometimes cause his taste buds are changing.
johnlockegoss
Hi Kim,
We appreciate your concern over weed killers in oats. It is one we share, but there is some pretty troubling news on that subject. Even farms that are fully certified organic or biodynamic or operate in a responsible way can end up with products with those toxins in them. This is because those weed killers are so widely used…and because they drift easily, that there are very few places they cannot reach. This is true not only of oats but just about every crop, every where. So until we find a way to verify the absence of those toxins in products, or until we make those substances illegal, it is a problem it seems that we all just have to live with. :( :( :(
K
Vitamin E (mixed tocopherols) are fine?
Kim S
I’ve stayed away from oat containing cereals and cereal bars because of the weed killer contamination that we’ve heard a lot about. I have not seen any updates about this. Is it safe to feed my babies oat cereal now?
Annmarie Zuluaga Yafrate
Thank you so much for this! I didn’t see any mention of some of the Whole Foods options such as Cascadian Farms or Nature’s Path. What do you think of these:
-Cascadian Farm Organic Hearty Morning Fiber
-Nature’s Path Organic Smart Bran
-Nature’s Path Organic Heritage Flakes
Thank you so much for all you and your family do!
Lori Salvati
I was wondering about the Trader Joe’s Shredded Bite Sized Wheat Square cereal? The only 2 I gredie at are whole wheat and Vitamin E to preserve freshness? No sugar, no sodium. I get these for my son all the time so I am crossing my fingers!
Maia James
Yes, there is nothing concerning about calcium carbonate, fortunately:).
Maia James
yes:)
AR
I saw that too and was wondering about the calcium carbonate.
Krystle Ang
On the Cascadian Farm website, the list of ingredients is as follows.
Whole Grain Oats*, Whole Grain Barley*, Wheat Starch*, Malted Barley Extract*, Sea Salt, Calcium Carbonate, Oats*, Malted Barley*, Vitamin E (mixed tocopherols) Added to Preserve Freshness
Is it still okay?